


■^> 






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CopyrightN^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



FIELD MANUAL 

for 

SUGAR BEET GROWERS 



A Practical Handbook for 

Agriculturists, Field Men and 

Growers 



BY 

R. L. ADAMS 



Published by 
BEET SUGAR GAZETTE COMPANY 

CHICAGO. ILLS., U. S. A. 



^^> 



>' 



Copright 1913. 
By Beet Sugar Gazette Company. 



//^ 






PREFACE. 



The most important improvement in sugar beet grow- 
ing will come in the bettering of growing methods so 
that the acreage returns will be increased. The average 
yields are below what they should be with proper atten- 
tion given to the demands of the plant. When the beet 
receives the benefit of proper environment the acreage 
returns for the beet growing sections will be greatly m- 
creased— 50 to 75 per cent in many cases. 

In this work the author has aimed to develop the sub- 
jects which are closely connected with the growing of 
the sugar beet in the field. It is taken for granted that 
the farmer understands the general principles of farm- 
ing and the author's aim is simply to show the relationship 
of^those principles to the growing of sugar beets. This 
"Manual" is gotten up to record the results of practical 
experiments and comparative field observations for the 
good of those interested in the beet sugar industry. The 
passes contain information which the author has had to 
coHect from various sources — laboratory, field and library 
—for use in his work in growing the sugar beet. He be- 
lieves this information will make interesting and profitable 
reading to all who have to raise the beet or who have the 
good of the agricultural side of the beet sugar industry 
at heart. Many of the factors which enter into the suc- 
cessful raising of the crop are taken up. These may be 
of interest to the more or less advanced farmer as the 
aim has been to elucidate the principles upon which suc- 
cessful beet culture is based, and which, in the majority 
of cases, are not thoroughly understood. 

At this point the author wishes to give credit to the 
writers of the various books and articles upon which he 
has drawn in gathering this data. While in the main 
this book records his own observations and experiments, 
he has found occasion to consult other sources, the num- 



lU 



ber being so numerous that it is impossible to cite all to 
whom he is indebted. The Orange Jiidd Farmer, the dif- 
ferent state experiment stations, the United States De- 
partment of Agriculture and The American Sugar 
Industry deserve special mention. Liberal extracts of 
several articles of the author published in the Orange 
Jn-dd Farmer are utilized in this text. 

The author is also deeply indebted to Mr. L. Myers for 
his kindness in writing out at length the article on "The 
Growing of Sugar Beets in the Salt River Valley — Ari- 
zona," which appears in the text. R. L. Adams. 



CONTENTS. 

Page 

Introduction 1-18 

Amount of Capital — Value of a Contract Price 2 

Profits on Sugar Beets 3 

Soils for Sugar Beets — Physical Nature 8 

Chemical Nature 10 

Alkali 11 

Chapter I. — Cultural Work 11>-11'2 

Plowing 19 

Putting the Land Into Shape 21 

Subsoiling — Seeding 22 

Time of Planting 24 

Distance of Rows — Seedling Growth 27 

Crusting — Selection of Varieties of Beet Seed 29 

Growing Beet Seed 33 

Treated or Decorticated Seed — Hulled or Shelled 

Seed — Single Germ Seed 34 

Thinning Beets 35 

Cultivation — Growth of the Beet 36 

Harvesting • • 38 

Siloing — Handling the Beets in the Field 42 

Topping Beets 43 

Schedule of Payment to Determine Beets to Grow.... 45 

Labor Problems 46 

Irrigation — Preparation for Irrigation 48 

Methods of Irrigation 51 

Preparation of Land for Irrigation 55 

Drainage 59 

Practice of Irrigation 61 

LTse of Alkali Waters 71 

The Soil Auger "^^ 

Fertilizing the Sugar Beet — What the Beet Uses — Use 

of Commercial Fertilizers 74 

V 



Green Manure Crops 11 

Barnyard and Stalde Manure 81 

Mill Waste Water '82 

Mill Waste Lime 84 

Crop Rotation 85 

How the Beet Benefits the Soil 86 

Planning the Rotation 88 

Sugar Beets in Orchards 92 

Mechanical Labor Savers • • 94 

The Factory Agriculturist 95 

Sugar Beet Culture in the Salt River Valley 96 

Conclusions on Cultural Work 98 

Chapter IL — Feeding By-Products 100-112 

Pulp 100 

Feeding Beet Pulp 102 

Siloing 105 

Feeding on a Large Scale 106 

Preserving Pulp — Molasses 109 

Beet Tops 110 

Chapter III. — Beet Troubles 1 13-130 

Insect Control 113 

Fungus Control 114 

Combined Insect and Fungus Control — Insects Affect- 
ing the Beet Foliage 115 

Insects Affecting the Roots 116 

The Woolly Aphis 117 

Beet Blight or Curly Top 118 

Blapstinus 119 

Cutworms — Wireworms 122 

Chewing Insects — Fungus Troubles 123 

Beet Scab 124 

Beet Rust — Downy Mildew — Rhizoctonia Root Rot — 

Seedling Root Rot 125 

Crown Rot — Physiological Troubles — Sprangley 

Roots — Compound Tops 126 

Seed Stalks— Lack of Plant Foods— Animal Troubles.. 127 

Gophers, Moles, Ground Squirrels, Rabbits . 129 

Chapter IV. — Improvement of Our Agriculture 131-133 

Tariff 132 

Chapter V. — Statistics 134 



VI 



INTRODUCTION. 



To develop the beet to the best advantage the neces- 
sary conditions are a rich, fertile soil, proper distribution 
of rainfall or irrigation to start and maintain the crop 
with a lessening towards harvest, warm, sunny weather 
to aid maturing, freedom from sudden, severe changes of 
weather and fair weather for harvesting. When these 
conditions exist in tracts of considerable area, in con- 
nection with proper limerock, transportation facilities and 
plenty of good water and fuel, a sugar mill is as good 
as established, for it will come in time. Only favorable 
natural conditions will bring about the investment of 
such sums of money as the establishment of a sugar mill 
involves. When a sugar mill is put up, that alone is suffi- 
cient evidence that the section is adapted to the culture 
of the sugar beet and the grower need take no further 
concern regarding the general adaptability of the coun- 
try. His duty will consist in determining the possibili- 
ties of his own farm for beets. If conditions are such 
that he can grow them he is fortunate, for it means in- 
creased wealth to him and a marked improvement in his 
soil. 

The distance from a sugar factory will largely deter- 
mine the growing of beets, as their profitableness depends 
very greatlv on the distance of the haul. Often by util- 
izing die railroad, beets can be raised at a good profit, 
wheVe otherwise the wagon route would prove to be too 
long a haul. On the other hand, the attractive reduc- 
tions in freight rates on beets offered by the majority 
of railroads make beet growing at quite a distance from 
the mill profitable. Shipments of beets from seventy- 
five to one hundred miles or more are by no means un- 
common. Each farmer must decide for himself the 



possibility of successfully marketing his beets after they 
are grown. 

Amount of Capital. — Beet raising on a large scale re- 
quires special tools and considerable of an investment to 
carry the crop through. If a responsible man does not 
have the means himself or a way of getting it he will 
find that most sugar mills are ready to back him, either 
by making him loans direct or by endorsing him at the 
local banks. In fact the local banks can be counted on 
for financial backing to a great extent. 

Beet raising on a small scale can be carried out with 
but little change from the usual equipment of the ranch 
or farm. In putting in beets it is well for a man new to 
the business to go rather slow. Better put in a few acres 
and, experimenting with these, gradually increase the 
acreage, than to put in too much at first and make a 
partial failure of it. This would result in such disap- 
pointment that the grower would fail to give the beets 
another conscientious trial. The ultimate aim, however, 
should be to run to beets as far as consistent with the 
handling of the farm. 

Before changing from ordinary field crops to beets on 
a large scale the farmer should consult freely with the 
factory authorities as to the extent of the investment re- 
quired and the nature of the tools to be purchased, should 
he be at all unfamiliar with the diiYerent aspects of beet 
culture. Both the mill agriculturist and the superin- 
tendent will be only too willing to lend all the assistance 
in their power. They desire a large supply of beets and 
will, therefore, be only too glad to give the prospective 
grower all the information they can. 

The Value of a Contract Price. — To know what one 
is to receive for his crop when harvested is a great ad- 
. vantage. This is one of the advantages attendant on 
beet culture, as the price at which the crop is to be sold is 
stipulated previous even to sowing the seed. This 
benefit will be especially appreciated at harvest time in 
dull seasons. Then the sight of potatoes piled under 
straw in the fields, grain in stacks and huge piles of hay 
under board covers will testify in a mute but vigorous 
manner to unforeseen low prices. And until these crops 
are moved there will be little monev for those to come. 



So, aside from the fact that there is Httle satisfaction in 
raising a crop and having it left on hand, there is the 
dissatisfaction of planting the same crops again with the 
almost certain possibility of a stagnant market when 
they come in. 

Profits on Sugar Beets. — The final test of the value of 
any crop is the maximum financial returns for the mini- 
mum drain on soil fertility. The aim of every thinking 
farmer is to prolong the life of his land indefinitely, and 
at the same time receive the greatest acreage returns. 
He builds not alone for the present but for the future, 
and the scheme of growing which brings in the greatest 
returns for a period of years will be the one he selects. 
In this connection the value of the sugar beet has been 
proved time and again. It benefits the soil because of 
its deep rooting habits. If used in rotation this is espe- 
cially noticeable. The deep feeders of the beet secure 
plant foods from the layers of soil deep down in the 
ground, where the shallow roots of ordinary crops can 
never go, and deposits them as salts in the crown of the 
beet just at the base of the leaves. This crown is cut 
off when the beet is topped and left on the ground, where 
in rotting it liberates phosphoric acid, potash and nitro- 
gen in a form ready for the next crop. The big bulk of 
tops, if turned under green, will furnish an abundance 
of humus — one of the most important ingredients of 
fertile soils. 

But aside from the benefit to the land — and in addi- 
tion to the one just stated are others which will be con- 
sidered further on — is the income. This furnishes a 
bright financial picture. It is true the cost of producing 
the beets is greater than of many other crops, but the 
returns are proportionately greater. This can be quickly 
proved by any farmer who goes to the trouble to keep 
track of all the work done on his various crops. Correct 
figures are convincing. The data given here has 
been worked up from the carefully kept records of in- 
dependent beet growers. They are, therefore, well 
worthy of consideration. These figures will not hold for 
every section because of the varying productivity of dif- 
ferent classes of land, and the different costs of carrying 
on the work. The returns and prices of the crops com- 

3 



pared, however, err on the side of high yields and high 
prices so that of all the crops the beet crop has wkat- 
ever disadvantage may exist. Beet yields of fifteen tons 
are common, many ranches producing an average of 
twentv tons, and a few as high as twenty-five. With 
only ordinary success every ranch fairly well adapted 
to beets should produce fifteen tons. 

In the beet table the results of two fields are given, 
the first consisting of 650 acres and the second of 324. 
Each represents a different type of soil. The first is a 
splendid loam, the second a sandy loam. The first was 
near the mill, the second 28 miles away, 25 by railroad 
and 3 miles by team. 

If the work be done by the farmer himself, he is paid 
for his time in this estimate, so in reality the returns are 
higher than shown in the estimate, as he makes on his 
crop and on his services. 

TABLE SHOWING THE COST OP RAISING AND MARKETING 
BEETS PER ACRE. 

No. 1. No. 2. 

Irrigating $3.68 $1.10 

Plowing 4.20(a) 1.54(b) 

Harrowing, rolling and dragging 3.35 1.58 

Cultivating 1.52 .76 

Sowing and seed 2.49 2.10 

Thinning, hoeing, weeding, topping and 

loading 18.62 16.83 

Poisoning and trapping gophers 04 

Sundries 09 

Plowing out and hauling 7.64 8.26 

Loading on cars 54 3.00 

Freight 5.05 7.82 

Cost per acre 47.22 43.90 

Yield per acre— tons 19.0 15.3 

Value per acre $95.00 $76.50 

Profit per acre 47.78 32.60 

Cost per ton 2.48 2.87 

Value per ton 5.00 5.00 

Profit per ton 2.52 2.13 

(a) Steam plowed sixteen inches deep. 

(b) Horse plowed ten inches. 

4 



Barley has always been considered a good crop, but the 
returns are more apparent than real. It is the lazy man's 
crop. The crop is a cheaper one to produce and the prof- 
its per acre are correspondingly less. Good bottom land 
will produce on an average twenty sacks per acre, costing 
as follows : 

TABLE SHOWING THE COST OF RAISING AND MARKETING 
BARLEY PER ACRE. 

One plowing $ 1.00 

Sowing and harrowing 40 

Ring rolling 25 

Seed 1.00 

Heading 1.30 

Threshing 1.80 

Sacks 1.40 

$ 7 15 

Value of 20 sacks (100 pounds each) at $1.00 $2o'.00 

Less cost 7.15 

$ 12.85 
This is about one-third the profit on beets. 
Beans will produce a crop of 1,200 pounds worth, at 
3 cents a pound, $36 to the acre, gross. The same land 
will raise twenty tons or more of beets to the acre. The 
cost of growing the crop is: 

Two plowings $ 2.50 

Three harrowings 60 

RingroUing 20 

Planting 25 

Seed 60 

Harvesting 3.00 

Cutting vines 50 

Sacks 1.00 

$ 8.65 

Value of crop $36.00 

Cost 8.65 

$27.35 

Potatoes are a e:ood crop, yet they do not rank above 
beets. 

5 



TABLE SHOWING THE COST OF RAISING AND MARKETING 
POTATOES PER ACRE. 

First plowing $ 1.0(5 

Second plowing 1.50 

Harrowing 20 

Planting 50 

Seed 2.75 

One cultivating 40 

Harvesting 12.50 

Sacks 2.80 

$21.65 
Value of crop, 40 sacks (100 pounds each) at $1.40. $44.00 

Seconds 2.75 

Thirds 50 

Total value $47.25 

Cost 21.65 

Profit $25.60 

Peas do well in a year of good rainfall, vet the profit 
is small. 



TABLE SHOWING THE COST OF RAISING AND MARKETING 
PEAS PER ACRE. 

Plowing $ 1.00 

Harrowing 20 

Cultivating 40 

Ringrolling 25 

Seed 50 

Harvesting 3.00 

Sacks 1.00 

$ 6.35 

The value is very liable to fluctuate for brokers 
have a failing for speculating with it. If the price 
is two cents a pound, the value of a 1,200 lb. crop 

will be $24.00 

Less cost 6.35 

Leaves a profit of $17.65 

In all these estimates good land and good quotations 
for prices are used in order to make as fair an estimate 
as possible. That these results are higher than usual is 
evident from a glance at the United States Department 

6 





Farm Value 


Price 


Per Acre 


$ .371 


$ 9.35 


.694 


9.37 


.281 


8.32 


.412 


10.34 


.525 


8.08 


.535 


9.68 


.499 


42.12 


8.070 


11.62 



of Agriculture census. Here the average acreage crops 
for the last ten years are : 

Yield 

Corn, bus 25.2 

Wheat, bus 13.5 

Oats, bus 29.6 

Barley, bus 25.1 

Rye, bus 15.4 

Buckwheat, bus 18.1 

Potatoes 84.4 

Hay, tons 1.44 

Sugar beets are not inckided in these figures, but it is 
only fair to state that the average for the whole United 
States is 9.71 tons. Still at $5 per ton for the beets, they 
would stand at the head of the ''farm value per acre." 
But the average for the beets is lower than the usual 
grower can afiford to be satisfied, with. It takes the first 
six to eight tons produced to pay the cost of raising the 
crop and marketing it. The profit must come from the 
tonnage in excess of this. 

Summing up the examples given above shows : 

Increased 



Crop. Value. 

Beets $85.00 

Grain 20.00 

Beans 36.00 

Potatoes 47.25 

Peas 24.00 

And these figures presuppose the continuation of high 
prices. If these should fall or if long storage must be 
resorted to, the benefits of a prearranged price and direct 
shipment from field to factory will stand out very promi- 
nently. On the other hand, the price paid for the crops 
listed, other than beets, must make big advances in prices 
received to even equal the profits from an average beet 
crop, to say nothing of the unheard of advance neces- 
sary to surpass them. 

Moreover, while the yields from a single acre stand 
out so markedly, multiply the results by the yield of 100 
acres. The gain, then, of beets over other crops is from 
$1,209 to $2,659, while the ranch is left in better shape 
than ever for future maximum production. 

7 







Profit 






from 


Cost. 


Profit. 


Beets. 


$45.56 


$39.44 




7.15 


12.85 


$26.59 


8.65 


27.35 


12.09 


21.65 


25.60 


13.84 


6.35 


17.65 


21.79 



Soils for Sugar Beets.. — Desirable soils for sugar beets 
vary in both physical and chemical composition, but all 
must be fertile, deep, moisture-retaining- soils of loant or 
clayey loam containing enough sand or silt so that they 
can be easily worked. 

Physical Nature. — This applies to the shape and size 
of the soil grains, and the formation of the land both in 
depth and area. Land made up of very fine grains will 
prove to be too ''cold" and heavy to work. Adobes are 
in this class. When the soil grains are too large the 
land will not hold moisture. Sands are examples. The 
land which is best adapted to beets is fairly level, deep, 
free from stones, loose sand and black alkali ; not too 
fine in texture on one hand, nor too coarse on the other. 
Land, which will produce good corn, wheat, potatoes or 
beans will grow beets if it has good depth. The best land 
on the farm should always be selected for the beets. 

New brush and timber soils will not produce good 
beets at first, as being very rich they produce beets low in 
sugar and purity because of the great amount of soluble 
substances present in the soil, which the beet will absorb 
in feeding. This effect will wear off in a couple of years. 
If desired, corn, potatoes or other crops can be put in to 
advantage for the first season or two. 

The depth of the soil is important as the beets make a 
deep growth and need plenty of room in which to de- 
velop. There should be no impervious layer of soil above 
a 4-foot depth. Even a greater depth is desirable. The 
character of the land in this respect can be determined 
easily with a shovel, a post hole digger or with a soil 
augur. 

The soil should be of the same general nature so that 
movement of soil moisture will be fairly uniform. No ex- 
tensive layers of sand or gravel should intervene to the 
depth to which the plant is to feed and secure its water. 
Further down they may be beneficial for drainage pur- 
poses if of no great extent. They would prove especial- 
ly valuable in using alkali water, as will be discussed 
later on. 

In short, at least 4 feet of fairly uniform soil is neces- 
sary. Where ample spring and early summer rainfall 

8 



occurs 2>4 feet will do, but in arid or semi-arid sections 
4 feet is the extreme limit. 

The water table must in no case stand nearer the sur- 
face than 4 feet. If it does, rotting of the tap root of the 
beet will result. Best yields, then, can in no case be ex- 
pected. 

Plenty of humus is required. It makes the soil easier 
to work, more retentive of moisture, less liable to bake, 
crack and crust, and is richer in plant foods. 

Stiff adobe or gumbo, and very stiff clays should be 
avoided. These are very difficult to work and must be 
caught at just the propei stage of moisture to insure ger- 
mination before the soil dries out. Moreover, unexpected 
rains following planting will work havoc by crusting and 
packing the soil, and by inducing root rot on the seedlings. 
Soils approaching adobes are being worked to advantage 
in many parts of the country and great crops have been 
taken off of strict adobes but the chances for failure on 
the very heavy soils are greater than for success,^ and it 
is better to leave such soils alone. The best land is none 
too good for beets and on such soil they will do their best 
and be a source of profit to the farmer. A clayey loam, 
rich in humus, is to be preferred. Such soils are a trifle 
harder to work than the lighter soils, they must be han- 
dled within shorter limits of time and moisture and the 
seeders give more trouble in this class of soil. But the 
final returns are greater, and as results are what count, 
it is well worth the extra effort put forth. Moreover, 
these soils hold their moisture better, as a rule are richer 
in plant food, and will withstand greater demands from 
the crop. 

While the above may be the best type of soil to use, it 
usually happens that soils vary from one extreme to the 
other. It is usually necessary for the farmer to make the 
best of what he has and to work out the questions of 
handling, time of planting, and variety of beet to suit his 
needs, whether the beet be a main crop or a rotator. For 
the greatest benefit to both grower and factory the land 
producing the greatest tonnage of fair-testing beets will 
prove the most desirable in the long run rather than land 
of less tonnage-producing power but greater sugar-form- 
ing ability. 

9 



Chemical Nature. — It is extremely difficult, in fact im- 
possible, to obtain a table of chemical analyses which will 
apply to all beet soils. iAU agricultural chemists are aware' 
of the presence of other influences aside from the amount 
of chemical elements present. The physical condition 
of the soil, the form in which the essential elements are 
present, and the amount of available moisture play such 
an important part and are so correlated with the chem- 
ical factor that all must be considered in judging the 
land. While a chemical analysis is not a sure guide in all 
cases, still, for purposes of reference the following table 
of analyses of profitable sugar beet soils is interesting: 

TABLE SHOWING ANALYSES OF SUGAR BEET SOILS. 

Humid sections. Arid sections. 

Per cent. Per cent 

Insoluble matter 84.03 70.57 

Soluble silica 4.21 7.27 

Potash 22 .73 

Soda 09 .26 

Lime 11 1.36 

Magnesia 23 1.41 

Manganese 13 .06 

Iron 3.13 3.75 

Alumina 4.30 7.89 

Sulphuric acid 05 .04 

Phosphoric acid 11 .12 

Carbonic acid 1.32 

Water and organic matter 3.64 4.95 

Humus 2.70 .75 

Nitrogen in humus 5.45 15.87 

Nitrogen in soil 12 .10 

Hydroscopic water *4.65 6.28** 

But even in this table the limits of fertility cannot be 
taken as complete guides, because it is not the total 
amount of each element present, but its availability, 
which counts. In illustration of this point the availability 
of the phosphoric acid depends on the lime content; if 
the lime is low the phosphoric acid is only slowly avail- 
able. This holds especially true with respect to arid 
regions for where the lime content is very high usually 
much less phosphoric acid is required. 

The actual test of growing beets with a series of fer- 
tilizer tests will prove the surest way of determining the 
lack of any plant food. 

'■'At 18.5 degrees Centigrade. **At 15 degrees Centigrade. 

10 



Alkali.— Alkali is a problem entirely confined to arid 
or semi-arid regions, and is simply the accumulation m 
the soil of those salts which form in the progressive 
weathering of the rock grains comprising the soil. In 
all parts of the country the soil particles are constantly 
breaking down and liberating the salts contained in them. 

From the standpoint of plant growth these salts are of 
two kinds, one beneficial and needed for plant develop- 
ment, the other of negative or even injurious character. 
The first will be retained in the soil to a great extent, the 
second is very soluble in water and in region of suf- 
ficient rainfall will be taken into solution and pass into 
the springs and brooks, and through these to the ocean. 
But when the rainfall is light the salts are left in the 
soil, and year by year, will accumulate until the total 
amount present will be so great that ordinary plant 
growth is impossible. The abundant rainfall of the 
eastern sections accounts for the absence of alkali. There 
the rainfall is sufficient to leach out the soluble alkali 
salts as fast as they are formed. But certain plant foods 
also are soluble and these will be lost along with the al- 
kali, so that while the injurious salts are retained in and 
sections because of insufficient rains to wash them out, 
at the same time the soluble plant foods are retained. 
This explains the great richness of the arid section when 
brought under cultivation by means of irrigation, for 
along with the accumulation of alkali salts are plant 
foods which have been liberated and stored for the 
future. 

Alkali soils differ from soils containing salts laid down 
in old sea formations, or from soils treated to an oc- 
casional overflow from the sea. In cases of this kind 
there is little present that the plant can use, for com- 
mon salt, Epsom salts, and the like predominate, and 
these are of an injurious nature and are far in excess of 
the plant foods. 

In order to determine the nature and extent of alkali 
soils and their agricultural possibilities, a chemical analy- 
sis is necessary. Such analyses when based on samples 
secured by a systematic sampling of the field in question 
to different depths and at different points show the ex- 
tent and nature of the salts. It will prove a far quicker 

11 



and more reliable guide then the trial of growing crops. 
For not only will the tests show conditions as they exi^, 
but the remedy usually will suggest itself from a study 
of the land when sampling and from the results of the 
analyses. For instance, if the salts are coming from beds 
deep down in the soil through the action of water, the 
analysis will be the surest way of finding it out. In con- 
nection with the chemical work must come a study of 
the soil formation, the general topography of the country 
and the irrigation water. A little study of the conditions 
which are bringing, or have brought about an excess of 
alkali, usually will show the methods that must be adopt- 
ed to offset them. 

Alkali salts generally are of three kinds, common salt 
(sodium chloride), Glauber's salt (sodium sulphate), and 
salsoda (sodium carbonate). The first two are the so- 
called "white alkalies," named from the white incrusta- 
tions which they produce on the surface of the ground. 
The salsoda is popularly known as "black alkali" because 
of the black spots or puddles which show where an ex- 
cess of the alkali exists. In addition to these, magnesium 
sulphate, calcium chloride, and magnesium chloride may 
be present in sufficient quantities to prove injurious. 

With the alkali salts are associated the three elements 
of plant foods, potassium, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen. 
These usually are present in the proportion of : 

Potassium, 5 to 20 per cent of the total saks. 

Phosphoric acid, .5 to 4 per cent of the total salts. 

Nitrogen, .1 to 20 per cent of the total salts. 

In white alkali the nitrogen is high and the phosphoric 
acid low ; in the black alkali the reverse is true. 

Alkali salts do not remain stationary in the soil. They 
move up and down in the soil layers according to the 
moisture conditions. Hence, at different periods the 
maximum amount of salts will be at different points. 
Following heavy winter rains or applications of irrigation 
water the salts are dissolved in the water and carried 
down with it into the lower levels of the ground. When 
the water begins to reascend and evaporate the salts are 
carried up to the surface, or to the point where evapora- 
tion is going on and redeposited. If, though, the water 
passes into gravel layers or into streams the salts will be 
carried with it away from the land. Where this condi- 

12 



tion occurs naturally, there is never alkali accumulations. 
The presence of alkali salts comes about in two ways 
on land which is being farmed, (a) in the water reach- 
ing the land either as irrigation, seepage or underground 
flow, or (b) from deposits of salts in the soil which are 
brought up from below by the movement of the soil 
moisture. In the latter case the salts can only move by 
their own power to a height of about three to six feet (de- 
pending on the character of the soil). In order to rise 
from a greater depth, whether they be in the water table or 
deposited in beds, communication with the surface can 
only be brought about through several successive periods 
of depositing and going into solution, the amount of wa- 
ter being so regulated that it does not carry the salts 
back to their original depth each time. The deeper the 
salts are buried the smaller chance do they have to reach 
the surface. Alkali below ten feet where ample irrigation 
is given without swamping the land will successfully 
guard against this. 

A study of the extent of alkali shows that the quantity 
of salts varies in different parts of the same field. Low 
depressions where the rainfall gathers will cause much 
more alkali to come to the surface than where there is a 
less amount of water. In sloping valleys it occasionally 
happens that the salts from the adjacent hills are de- 
posited to such an extent that broad stretches of alkali 
running to considerable depth will form, but these are 
extreme cases and of infrequent occurrence. Often al- 
kali hard-pans will form in the soil at the depth to which 
the normal rainfall sinks, and will prove almost impervi- 
ous when first brought into cultivation. These, however, 
if of limited extent, will finally give way to the effects 
of repeated irrigations. The seepage of irrigation wa- 
ters, charged with alkali salts, from a higher to a lower 
level has worked havoc in the case of over-irrigation. 

Only a study of local conditions will point out the solu- 
tion. The problem may be only to dispose of the salts 
present in new land which is to be put in shape for crops. 
Or the accumulation may be the result of cultivation, 
such as over-irrigation, by which salts deep down in the 
soil are brought into the upper levels ; or it may be 
caused by too large a percentage of salts in the irriga- 

13 



tion water, from seepage, or from some other local con- 
dition. Often the question involves a district rather 
than a locality. When such is the case only methods aim- 
ing to remove the cause vi^ill prove of permanent value. 
Such a case requires deep study, much scientific work, 
and is entirely outside the scope of the average beet 
grower. 

The first duty then in dealing with an alkali problem 
is to determine its extent, whether local or general. If 
local, each grower can, in many cases, work out the solu- 
tion for himself. 

Since the salts rise in the soil with the evaporation of 
the soil moisture any method which will lessen evapora- 
tion will lessen the rise of the alkali. When a given 
amount of alkali is distributed throughout three or four 
feet of soil it will not prove detrimental, whereas the 
same amount brought up by evaporation of the moisture 
and deposited in the first three or four inches of soil will 
concentrate to such an extent as to interfere seriously 
with the plant's activities, and possibly cause them to 
cea^e altogether. 

The quick growing of the plants to shade the ground 
and the maintenance of a loose mulch by deep cultiva- 
tion will do much to retard the concentration of the salts. 
Deep preparation of the soil and thorough surface culti- 
vation are the most important factors for securing re- 
sults on alkali land. 

When black alkali is present it is possible to change 
it over into the su'.phate form (Glauber's salt — a white 
alkali) by the use of gypsum (land plaster, or calcium 
sulphate) if there is ample moisture in the soil. That 
the Glauber's salt is less injurious than the black alkali 
can be seen in the resistance of barley. This crop can stand 
five times as much of the white alkali, Glauber's salts, as 
it can of black alkali. The amount of gypsum to be used 
will depend on the amount of black alkali present. As a 
general rule, one ton of the ordinary gypsum will be 
required to neutralize i,ooo pounds of black alkali. All 
need not be put on at one application. Enough to neu- 
tralize the surface soil can be put on at first, adding more 
later on until the desired total amount has been added to 
the soil. 

14 



Moisture must be present to change the black alkali 
into white. Chemically this is a conversion of sodium 
carbonate and calcium sulphate into sodium sulphate and 
calcium carbonate, (common lime stone). It takes a 
few days for the action to be completed in very wet soils. 
In soils with lesser moisture the change will be propor- 
tionately slower. Where the black alkali is present in 
^pots the use of gypsum will give marked returns. The 
hard, puddled condition will crumble into a loose mass 
thus permitting good drainage, and humus will be once 
more returned to the soil. To be permanently beneficial 
the danger of swamping the land with an excess of wa- 
ter must be constantly guarded against. The black alkali 
is the only kind open to this method of treatment. 

The removal of salts can be accomplished by scraping 
off a few inches of the top soil at a time when the major- 
ity of the salts are deposited there, that is, at the driest 
time of the year. In this way often one-half of the total 
salts present in the soil can be removed in one season. 

Removal by thorough irrigation is feasible when the 
under-drainage is good. The water will take up the salts 
and carry them on down into the under-drainage of the 
country far out of reach. To make this method entirely 
successful ample water must be available, so that the soil, 
previously checked for even irrigation, can be given a 
thorough soaking. With this must be good drainage, 
either artificial or natural. Subsequent careful irrigation, 
constantly bearing in mind the danger of swamping the 
land, will effectually keep the salts down indefinitely, even 
if they should not be taken up by underground flows. 
This means that in lands where the water table is so deep 
that it is not feasible to reach it with the irrigation, it is 
possible to so thoroughly soak the land that the salts, 
with future ordinary precautions, can be kept deep down 
in the soil, out of reach of the surface. Where danger 
of excess water exists, on the other hand, undcr-drains 
must supplement the work of irrigation. 

Flushing the land with water with the object of taking 
off the salts, by means of a big rush of water across the 
ground is not successful, as the first water is bound to go 
rather slowly and sink into the ground to a certain extent. 
This carries the salts down into the soil beyond reach of 
the swifter water which follows. 

15 



The plowing under of stable manure and the use of 
potash salts are generally of little value in ridding land^ 
of alkali. 

The amount of alkali which can be resisted by the 
sugar beet varies with the kind of soil. In sandy soil 
its tolerance is much higher than in clay lands, because 
in the latter the alkali exerts an injurious effect on the 
tilling qualities of the soil, and moreover, evaporation is 
so much greater that the depositing of salts at the surface, 
with their attendant increased corroding effect, is much 
enhanced. This applies to all farm crops as well. 

Beets grown in soil impregnated with common salt, 
sodium chloride, are wholly unfit for sugar purposes. 
However, after being grown for several years on salty 
land they will so reduce the salt content that eventually 
really good beets can be grown. Beets grown on land 
heavily charged with Glauber's salt are, on the other 
hand, well fitted for sugar purposes, good yields of high 
grade beets being obtained regularly from land contain- 
ing as high as 12,000 pounds of this salt per acre. 

The actual percentages of each of the salts when alone 
which the sugar beet can withstand and still make a satis- 
factory growth has been found to be, in the first three 
feet of soil (in depth) : 

Pounds. 

Sulphates (i. e., Glauber's salt) 70,000 

Carbonates (i. e., black alkali) 4,000 

Chlorides (i. e., common salt) 4,500 

As to the amount when two or more are present, the 
proportions can vary in an infinite variety of ways, so 
that a general rule is all that can be satisfactorily given. 
It is certain, however, that of the chlorides and suiphates 
(common and Glauber's salts) the chlorides are by far 
the most injurious, .2 of i per cent is a dangerous limit, 
while .15 of I per cent is apt to yield uncertain crops. In 
other words while the total amount of common and 
Glauber's salts may equal one per cent, not over .2 per 
cent must be common salt. 

With black alkali a very much less amount is injurious 
than with either of the other two. The following table 
shows the limits of resistance for all plants, if all the 
salts are concentrated in the first foot of soil : 

Black alkali, .1 of 1 per cent, or 4,000 pounds. 

Common salt, .25 of 1 per cent, or 10,000 pounds. 

Glauber's salt, .5 of 1 per cent, or 20,000 pounds. 

16 



It should be clearly understood that the amounts given 
in the preceding paragraphs are but general guides. A 
less amount may prove injurious if kept constantly con- 
centrated, and a greater amount can be withstood if it 
remains scattered throughout a great depth of soil at 
all times. During one period of the year a definite 
amount of salt will be injurious when at other times it is 
harmless. Beets have done well in soils containing great- 
er amounts, while on the other hand a smaller amount has 
been sufficient to work havoc with other soils. This dif- 
ference often can be traced to the intelligence of the men 
doing the farming, as the effect of the salts largely can 
be regulated by the farming methods. In addition to 
this, local climatic conditions, the soil formation and the 
source of the alkali salts all have an influence. 

In the case of the sugar beet the greatest danger from 
alkali lies in the danger of retarding germination by cor- 
rosion or erosion, or in the actual destroying of the young 
seedling after it starts. When once established the sugar 
beet is immune to alkali. In fact it is one of the crops 
usually recommended by writers on alkali for growing 
on soils heavily charged. Coming in early times from 
the banks of the Mediterranean, the beet still retains its 
resistant nature to alkali action, in spite of the decades 
of civilization through which it has passed. 

In the majority of cases the danger to germination 
and young seedling is slight if the beets are put into 
deep, well prepared soil at a time when the bulk of the 
alkali is well distributed through the layers of soil, either 
from the preparatory irrigation or from the rainfall. By 
the time a new accumulation of salts has occurred the 
beet will have reached a state of immunity. By their 
quick growth the leaves soon cover the ground and in 
shading it reduces surface evaporation to a minimum. 
The roots take the moisture from deep down in the 
soil and evaporate it through the leaves, so that in this 
way the salts are held deep down in the soil, Moreover, 
the beet takes up large quantities of salts in feeding, 
which are bodily removed from the soil in harvesting the 
crop. So in many ways the beet prepares the soil for 
the better reception of such other crops as are to follow. 
It keeps the salts so deep dow^n in the ground that the 
following winter rains or irrigation can carry them still 
deeper, and it removes large quantities bodily from the 

'l7 



soil. In this way the land is better fitted for the subse- 
quent planting of crops more sensitive to alkali. 

In disturbing plant growth alkali works in two waysT 
The first is the corrosive action at the surface of the 
ground, already spoken of, which results in a brownish 
tinge showing on the stalk or stem of the plant, while 
the outer epidermis (bark) becomes soft and easy to peel. 
The alkali in this case actually girdles the plant. While 
it may not die, future growth usually is slow and un- 
profitable. Black alkali acts worse by far in this respect, 
and also burns out the humus to such an extent that such 
lands are difficult to work and develop tough, impene- 
trable hard-pans, which seriously interfere with drainage. 

The second method of poisoning comes from a disturb- 
ance of the activities of the feeding roots. Plants gain all 
their food by taking up the soil moisture containing them 
in solution through the walls of the tiny, threadlike hair- 
roots. There are no openings. The plant has no power 
of selection and must take up everything that is in solu- 
tion. The passing of the salt-charged moisture from the 
soil into the root depends on the difference in density be- 
tween the moisture outside and the sap inside the root- 
lets. It is greater in the root. When the density on the 
outside approaches that on the inside, passage of the 
water into the root is checked, and the plant starves. 

Where alkali is giving trouble a study of the problem 
will reveal the cause. With a little knowledge of what 
constitutes the source of the trouble, methods for preven- 
tion can be undertaken based on the character, extent and 
nature of the salts, and on their source. Alkali lands are 
very rich in all plant foods and possess good moisture- 
retaining powers so that when the total quantity of solu- 
ble alkali is reduced to a point where it is no longer in- 
jurious great crops can be raised. For this reason money 
spent on reclaiming alkali lands or in checking increasing 
accumulations of salts will be money well spent, pro- 
vided the initial cost is not too great. 

In Europe several investigators hold that the sugar 
beet will actually respond to a light dressing of salt. The 
salt seemingly has the power to interchange bases with 
the potash salts in the soil, thus making the potash more 
available. For soils rich in unavailable potash, the use 
of small quantities of salt (150 pounds per acre) has 
been suggested. The water drawing and retaining power 
of the salt has been cited as a possible valuable asset on 
light, sandy soils. 

18 



CHAPTER I. 



Cultural Work. 

In taking up the cultural work of the sugar beet it is 
assumed that the grower will avail himself of the ser- 
vices and experiences of the factory field superintendent. 
Local conditions to a large extent determine the best 
methods to follow in order to reap the maximum results, 
or in other words, the biggest crops. Guided by per- 
sonal efforts, and coming constantly in contact with the 
experience of others, the mill agriculturist can advise to 
good advantage. The interests of the grower and the 
superintendent are one — the biggest yield for the acre- 
age — and both should endeavor to work in perfect ac- 
cord. Questions as to the best time to plant, the best 
method of handling the labor problem, the variety of seed 
to plant and the time of harvesting must be determined 
largely by local conditions. 

Ploiving. — The depth and time of plowing will de- 
pend on whether the land is new and going into beets for 
the first time or whether it is old cultivated ground. 

Fall plowing is to be recommended in either case. By 
fall plowing alone, I have increased the yield of sugar 
beets 44 per cent. The reason for this is to be explained 
in the better mechanical condition, for in its openness 
the soil will absorb all the winter rainfall, and through 
aeration the soil permits the natural agencies (fungi, 
bacteria, etc.) to work to the best advantage. 

New land should not be plowed very deep. Seven or 
eight inches is enough. Neither should land which has 
never been deeply plowed be turned up to the final depth 
at once. Better to run the plow furrow only an inch or 
two deeper than the old depth at first, gradually in- 
creasing this at each subsequent plowing until the final 

19 



depth is reached. This does away with the danger of 
bringing a lot of raw soil to the surface of the ground, 
thereby decreasing crop yields for the time being. The 
final depth should be as far down as it is possible to work 
the land. Many sugar companies who are farming their 
own land go regularly to a depth of 24 inches by the use 
of power engines. The man depending on horses should 
have sufficient stock to plow twelve inches deep, and im- 
plements heavy enough to stand the strain. 

Alfalfa land which is to be prepared for beets should 
be plowed in the fall very shallow, not to exceed 3 or 4 
inches deep, the aim being- to cut off the old alfalfa plants 
just below the crown. The plowing is followed with a 
spring tooth or spike harrow to bring the crowns to the 
top of the ground, where any sprouting will be killed by 
the sun and wind. Alfalfa must be given proper atten- 
tion or it will regain its hold and tend to choke out the 
beets during the succeeding year. If the land is plowed 
deep the crowns will be turned under. They will then 
remain alive and start to grow again in the spring. When 
the crowns are thoroughly dry, the land can be plowed 
more deeply. 

In new land any leveling that is necessary should be 
done before the plowing. With alfalfa land it should 
follow the first plowing and precede the second. More- 
over, when winter or previous irrigations are given they 
should precede this plowing, in order to give the weeds 
a chance to grow. The bulk of them will then be dis- 
posed of by the plowing. 

Grain land should be disked or ringrolled before plow- 
ing in order to break down the stubble and even the sur- 
face of the land. 

For all land which has been handled for beets, or other 
crops demanding a deep preparation of the soil, there 
may be a deviation from the above. The land should 
then be plowed to the required depth as soon as it is dry 
enough after the irrigation or wet enough from the nat- 
ural rainfall to put it into condition. When the soil will 
fall away from the mouldboard of the plow without 
sticking, and still retains sufficient moisture so that it 
can be molded in the hand it is safe to work it. By this 
time the weeds will have started. Following the plow- 

20 



ing the land should be lightly harrowed. If the ground 
is rough from harvesting a beet crop the year before, 
from stubble, or from any cause a ringrolling or a slab- 
bing before the plowing will greatly assist. 

Throughout the winter the land may lay idle with only 
occasional treatment of the weeder or cultivator, should 
the weeds get a bad start. 

For putting the land into shape in the spring, the han- 
dling of both new and old land is essentially the same. 

Putting the Land Into Shape.— Ed.v\y in the spring the 
land may be given another plowing, shallow this time, 3 
or 4 inches deep. This will not be needed unless winter 
rains have interfered with the use of the weeder so that 
the weeds have a good start. If the weeds have been held 
in control the land can be cultivated down and the plow- 
ing omitted. If the land has not been packed by the 
winter rains and snows it is necessary to do this with 
the farm tools. The aim should be to cultivate to the 
depth of plowing in order thoroughly to firm the land 
from surface to depth of plowing. When the land is 
naturally well settled the deep cultivation may be dis- 
pensed with and only a shallow one given. Following 
the cultivator, will come the harrow, drag, ringroller or 
roller, the kind of implement and the order and amount 
of work each must do depending on the nature and con- 
dition of the land. 

During the spring work any plowing or deep cultiva- 
tion must be worked down immediately, so that by night- 
fall no rough land is left. In other words stop plowing 
or cultivating early enough to run the implements for 
fining the surface soil before the day's work is consid- 
ered complete. 

Under no conditions should the land be handled too 
wet as the danger of packing the land too solid is great. 
Should this occur and no rains follow, the decreased 
crop will be a striking lesson. As the rains may fail 
and as irrigation is expensive, where available, it is bet- 
ter to avoid all risk in the first place. As stated before, 
when the soil will crumble away from the mouldboard of 
the plow, and not ball up on the cultivator and harrow 
teeth, still retaining enough moisture to hold together, 
or when the soil can be molded in the hand and still 

21 



crumbles on pressing, showing no sign of excess mois- 
ture, it is in the best possible condition for working and 
can be handled to the best advantage. 

By keeping the land constantly worked down depend- 
ence need not be placed on late rains. It is much better 
policy to hold the moisture until time for planting by an 
occasional harrowing or dragging, than to leave the land 
rough until the last moment. 

The final operation should be a harrowing. Leaving 
the land dragged tends to make it crust if a rain comes, 
and also causes too excessive evaporation from the soil. 
But if moisture is needed for the sowing, a dragging 
just before planting wall cause the rapid movement of 
soil moisture to the surface. For this purpose dragging 
is good. 

Once the land is in shape it should lay for a week or 
ten days to settle and to enable the moisture conditions 
to equalize throughout before being seeded. 

Adobe or gumbo soils should be given as little work- 
ing as possible in the spring, and not opened up at all. 
Seeding should be done a day or so after the land is 
ready, and every effort made to get the land into shape 
and planted at the earliest opportunity. Once such soils 
dry out, re-establishment of the moisture is almost im- 
possible unless they receive more water. 

The whole idea in preparing the land is to secure a 
well-fined, well-packed, w^ell-stirred seed bed, and any 
method which wall bring about this condition will be well 
repaid in the better growth of the beet. 

Siihsoiling is not practiced on old soils as much as 
formerly and, where no plowpan or hard subsoil exists 
near the surface, is hardly necessary. After a crop of 
beets has been raised the deep plowing out at harvest 
time is practically a subsoiling. 

However, where shallow plowing has been the rule 
and beets are to be put in for the first time, it is well to 
follow the plowing with a good, deep subsoiling or cul- 
tivation to the depth needed for the beet's development 
as the plowing must go but little deeper than formerly at 
first. 

Seeding. — As the future of the crop depends to a great 
extent upon the stand secured, too much care cannot be 

22 



exercised in the matter of seeding. At least 14 pounds 
of seed should be used to the acre, and even more if the 
land is not in the very best condition for sowing. Most 
farmers use too little seed and the result shows in the 
final stand. Heavy seeding gives extra plants for insect 
and fungus depredations and while it entails a slightly 
increased expense, will, at thinning time, permit the se- 
lection of robust specimens. 

That the greatest stress must be laid on the stand for 
the final returns is shown in the following example : 

A square acre is approximately 209 feet on a side. If 
the rows of beets are twenty inches apart there will be 
125 rows. If the beets are thinned to ten inches apart, 
and at harvest weigh 38 ounces the yields according to the 
stand will be : 

Percent Number Yield Per Acre 

of Perfect Stand. of Beets Tons. 

100 31,350 39.19 

99 31,036 38.80 

98 30,723 38.41 

90 28,215 35.27 

80 25.080 31.35 

60 18,810 23.51 

As the average stand which looks good comprises but 
80 per cent of a perfect stand in the majority of cases, it 
can readily be seen what opportunities there are for im- 
provement just along this line. It may be well to state 
that with the poorer stands the individual weight of the 
beet increases somewhat so that, in the field, the decrease 
in yield will not be as uniform as that given in the table. 
However, it is great enough to approach the figures 
given. 

From seven to fourteen days after the seed is planted 
the young plants begin to appear. And then another 
advantage is to be noted from the heavy seeding. If 
the ground is of a clayey nature or becomes packed the 
multitude of seedlings are much better fitted to lift the 
soil and break through than are fewer seedlings scat- 
tered at irregular intervals. Their combined effort may 
be compared to men lifting a steel rail. Four or five la- 
borers will experience great difficulty in lifting it even if 
they are strong men. If weak they cannot budge it. But 
twenty or thirty men, even if not up to the limit of 
strength will pick it up and carry it off with compara- 
tive ease. 23 



In a field where rains follow the sowing and crust the 
land just as the seedlings are coming up, the amount of 
seed sown may make all the difference between a fair 
stand and no stand. Reseeding will be necessary in the 
latter case, at greater expense than the originally larger 
amount of seed. And if the season is getting late the 
time lost in regaining a stand may seriously curtail the 
crop. 

The Time of Planting will be largely determined by 
local conditions, but in every case, once the land is ready, 
it should be planted whether it be fall, winter or spring 
sowing. The soil should be settled, warm, and fairly dry. 
A frost or two will make no dift'erence. I have seen beets 
with two true leaves stand i8 degrees F. The same beets 
when they had twelve leaves were subjected to no de- 
grees F., and stood the cold extreme better than the heat. 
Early sowing reduces the danger of damage from a num- 
ber of insect pests. 

While late planted beets sometimes look greener and 
have larger and more luxuriant tops, the actual tonnage 
is, as a rule, greater in the earlier plantings. Cool weath- 
er when the beets are coming up causes them to develop 
small compact foliage, but the greater supply of mois- 
ture present in the soil helps them out in the roots. 

In planting, allowance must be made for late spring 
rains. In most sections the Equinoctial storm can be 
counted on in late March. As heavy winds are apt to 
follow, which rapidly crust the soil, planting (if plant- 
ing is at all possible that early) should be delayed until 
the storm is past, or else put in early enough to permit 
the seedlings to be well above ground when it arrives. 

Early planting has its drawbacks. Rains to the extent 
of an inch or more before the plants have four leaves are 
not desirable because of their crusting tendencies. The 
soil, however, plays an important part in this respect. 
Beets in adobe or clay lands suffer less than those in 
sandy land as the former will crack in drying and give 
the beets a chance to come up. Plantings in cold, wet 
soils will develop root rot, the conditions inducing this 
trouble being excess moisture and cold soils. Early 
planting may mean more weeds and consequently entail 
more crop cultivation. 

24 



But on the other hand, early planting means more 
freedom from insect pests, an earlier harvest, a longer 
growing period and more natural moisture for the crop's 
needs. 

In the humid sections these remarks are not as applic- 
able because the rains come at intervals frequent enough 
to prevent the formation of any great amount of un- 
favorable conditions. The rainfall is gentle as a rule. 
But many of the beet growing sections are in semi-arid 
regions and when it rains it comes right down. In hu- 
mid sections when drouths follow the rains the described 
results will exist, and give a state of affairs similar to 
those of the west. 

But whenever planting is to be done, the land must 
first be put into shape, ?.nd until this is brought about, 
sowing must be delayed. It is essential that the land be 
well pulverized, as clods seriously interfere with germin- 
ation by obstructing the advance of the sprout and by in- 
terfering with the movement of the soil moisture. Such 
soils dry out badly. One-quarter to one inch of soil is 
sufficient to put over the seed. When the seed will ger- 
minate evenly at this depth it means that the land has 
been properly prepared and the moisture kept right at 
the surface. If a greater depth is needed to get an equal 
germination it indicates that the soil is not in the best 
possible condition. Fineness of soil is the greatest factor 
in securing a stand. When the soil is right the seed will 
come up well whether it is put down one-half inch, one 
inch, two inches, or even more, or whether shoes or 
wheels are used on the seeder to cover the seed. Moisture 
to germinate the seed must rise from below fast enough 
to start germination and to compensate for evaporation 
from the surface of the ground. The finer the soil, the 
better is the proper moisture content maintained. There- 
fore, as germination depends on moisture, and the 
amount of moisture is directly dependent on the fineness 
of the soil, we may say that germination depends on the 
fineness of the soil, or soil preparation. 

The seed must be placed where it will receive a con- 
stant supply of moisture until it has a chance to start. 
This depth should be carefully determined. By scraping 
away the soil with the foot, or by digging down with a 

25 



penknife the boundary of moisture and dry soil will be 
quickly discerned by the change in color from light to 
dark where the moisture begins, unless the soil is yni- 
formly moist to the surface. The seed must be put into 
the moist soil. 

As the seed should not be covered over one inch deep, 
when the moisture is lower than this depth clod removers 
must be used on the seeders to scrape away enough of 
the dry soil so that the seed will be placed in the moi«^t 
soil. The seed is then covered one inch deep. It is desir- 
able to keep the land as flat as possible, not in hills or 
ridges, and everything should be done to make this pos- 
sible. 

The rut in which the seed is dropped is comparatively 
narrow, so that large seed balls will not reach clear to the 
bottom. Care must be exercised when using a brand con- 
taining a large number of big seed balls to run the seeder 
deep enough so that they will be placed at the proper 
depth. The seed balls should rest on a well-firmed soil. 
It is better to do this and cover with dry soil, than en- 
tirely to surround the seed with loose, moist soil. This 
tends to dry out before the seed has time to germinate. 

For drawing the soil over the seed, shoes are to be pre- 
ferred to wheels when the land is dry on top. They pack 
the soil over the seed, draw soil to it, regulate the depth 
better, can be weighed to better advantage, and the seeder 
draws easier. 

On moist land, especially that of a sandy nature, wheels 
are best, for the shoes tend to smear the land so that it 
bakes into a crust as it dries, even without rainfall. The 
wheel does away with this disadvantage. The author is 
only considering the wheel with the concave rim — the 
kind with the flat rim is not so good. In land of this 
nature it presses the soil firmly on each side of the row 
of seed, but leaves a fine line of unpacked earth down 
the center, which will absorb water if rains come and 
allow the seedlings to reach the surface without difficulty. 

The size of the seed ball is unimportant — it is the size 
of the seed which counts. The larger the seed the great- 
er amount of nutriment is stored in it, and as it is this 
nutriment which gives the impetus to the seed, the more 
there is the better will be the resulting growth. Seed con- 

26 



taining the greatest amount of medium sized seed balls 
containing plump, well-filled, bright-colored seed is pref- 
erable. It will sow more evenly, will sprout quickly and 
evenly, and the resulting stand therefore, will be more 
uniform. 

The large seed balls usually contain more seed but the 
gfermination is slower as the thick wall requires more 
time to absorb moisture, hence it is the last seed to sprout. 
Moreover the large seed balls are usually the exception 
rather than the rule so that smaller seed is also present. 
It will, therefore be difficult to regulate the seeder prop- 
erly to take care of all sizes. Because of the irregular 
rate of germination, and different distances from the sur- 
face the stand will appear uneven and the seedlings will 
not assist one another in breaking the soil away to reach 
the surface. 

The presence of green or black seed often causes ques- 
tion as to its desirability. But if the seed itself is plump 
and full (the seed ball must be cut open and the seed 
picked out to ascertain this) the germination will be 
found to be equal to the rest of the seed. 

Distance of Rows. — The distance between the rows 
will depend to a large extent on the character of the land. 
They should never be closer than i8 inches nor further 
than 30 inches. Twenty inches is perhaps the best aver- 
age. Lands deficient in fertility or poor in moisture-re- 
taining power cannot stand close planting. 

The nearness of the rows to som.e extent, will deter- 
mine the space to be left between the beets in thinning — 
a matter which will be taken iip later on. The greater the 
thinning the nearer the rows can be. 

For all around purposes 20-inch rows with lo-inch 
thinning will serve as a general guide. 

Seedling Grozvth. — From the time the seed ball is 
planted and gathers the necessary moisture to burst its 
walls, until it reaches the surface of the ground, the 
little sprout makes its growth entirely on the nourish- 
ment stored in the seed. Not until the cotyledons (seed 
leaves) are unfolded above ground does it draw on the 
soil for support. The rootlet appears from the seed ball 
first and grows downward, often to a considerable depth. 
Dr. Briem reports an experiment in which the growth of 

27 



the rootlet made a daily average increase of .55 inches. 
The total growth on the nourishment of the seed was 3.27 
inches, and coA^ered a period of six days. 

Different rootlets grow to different depths during this 
period depending on the amount of food stored in the 
seed cell. This is shown by the size and weight of the 
seed. The greater the amount of food stored the longer 
is the possible growing period and the deeper the root 
will reach. For average conditions the roots go down 3 
to 3^ inches. The stalk does not start until four days 
after the root tip shows. But it makes a rapid growth 
in order to reach the surface quickly and begin to supply 
the young plantlet with a supply of food independent of 
that stored in the seed, and it is necessary that this be 
accomplished quickly for the stored food will last but a 
very few days at the outside. The deeper the seed is 
planted the longer will be the period consumed in reach- 
ing the surface, and the greater the drain on the seed re- 
serves. After the sixth day from the time the first tip 
appears growth will cease, and if the seedling has not 
reached the surface in that time it is in danger of dying 
from starvation or suffocation. As has already been 
shown, the character and preparatic?. of the soil plays 
an important part in this respect and will either help or 
retard the advance of the plantlet stalk. Crusting or 
packing over the young seedling will seriously hamper 
its growth and may retard it to such an extent that it 
will die before reaching the surface. Even if the strong- 
est plants do reach the surface under such adverse condi- 
tions they will not have the capacity for growth which 
otherwise they would possess. 

To show that the depth of planting is veiy important 
experiments were conducted to show the number of 
seedlings which reached the surface of a series planted at 
different depths, for the deeper the seed is planted the 
poorer are its chances for reaching the surface. It was 
found that with the beet seed planted at depths of ap- 
proximately three-fourths, one and one-half, two and a 
quarter, 3 and 4 inches, the seedlings appeared above 
ground after five days for the shallow depth ; six days 
for the next; eight days for the 2}%, after ten days for 
the 3-inch and none at all for the 4-inch. Of the differ- 

28 



ent amounts, lOO per cent came up of the first two; 
75 per cent of the 2>4 depth ; 50 per cent for the 3-inch 
and o per cent for the 4-inch depth. 

Therefore, the more shallow the seed can be planted 
the better chance it has for producing a perfect stand. 
Beets planted too deep are yellow and sickly on reaching 
the surface if they come up at all, and never make as 
good a showing at the end of the season. 

Crusting, — The course to be advised when rains fol- 
low seeding so closely that a crust forms before the little 
plantlets have a chance to reach the surface, depends on 
the stage to which germination has progressed. If the 
seedlings have reached the crust, "spider" (wheels with 
spikes in the rims), must be employed as these will break 
the crust without disturbing the young plants. If the 
seedlings have not reached the surface the use of a har- 
row with the teeth driven back or thrown so that they 
will drag lightly over the ground, or a brush harrow, will 
break the crust and let the plants through. This work is 
only possible after the land has dried sufficiently to hold 
up the work stock. 

The spiders travel directly on the rows, the harrows 
are run across them and work up the entire land. A 
few plants may be destroyed but the loss will not be great. 
Seedlings which have reached the crust, curled down, 
and turned yellow are too far gone to save. For such 
fields replanting is the only remedy. 

Selection of Varieties of Beet Seed.— The selection of 
the proper brand of beet seed to use is important and 
will, to a large extent, determine the crop receipts. 

In the development of the sugar beet from the com- 
mon garden variety two lines of improvement have been 
followed by commercial seed growers, with the object 
either of increasing the tonnage yield, or increasing the 
sugar percentage of the beet. These are two opposed 
physiological characteristics and the highest state of de- 
velopment of both cannot be found in the same beet. If 
the type is of high sugar content it will be reduced in 
weight ; or, on the other hand, if heavy weight is desired 
a certain amount of sugar must be sacrificed. Commer- 
cial brands of seed run to neither extreme, as, to serve 
both grower and mill, there must be a combination of 

29 



sugar and tonnage. However, within certain limits, types 
have been placed on the market and dealers list their seed 
with a short statement of its capability, as : • 

Type A — For highest sugar content. 

Type B — For highest tonnage. 

Type C — For high tonnage on poor land. 

Type D — For highest sugar per acre, etc. 

In general, the two extremes may be considered as 
quick-maturing and slow-maturing. The quick-maturing 
is usually rich in sugar, rather light in weight, and ripens 
early. The late-maturing is of slower growth, but be- 
cause of its longer growing season is heavier than the 
other, ripens later, and does not carry the sugar content. 
Early-maturing varieties lose considerable sugar if not 
harvested at time of maturity, although, when ripe, they 
are higher in sugar. Late-maturing kinds, on the othet* 
hand, are apt to be deficient in sugar if harvested too 
early, that is before fully ripe. For this reason it is well 
to plant part of the land to each variety when the harvest 
must extend over a considerable period. Here again lo- 
cal conditions may enter which may cause one type to be 
pre-eminently better adapted to the section, but when 
both are equally good in their respective ways the use of 
an early-maturing type for the first of the harvest and 
late-maturing type for the last half is well worth consid- 
ering. By this means a steady supply of high-testing, 
mature beets can be delivered throughout the harvest 
season, even though the period covers several weeks. 
This shows the value of being posted on the characteris- 
tics of the kind of seed planted, for it is just as impor- 
tant to give the beets the right length of time to mature, 
as it is with potatoes, grains or any crop where differ- 
ent varieties require different times for maturing. Only 
in this way can the maximum sugar and weight be ob- 
tained. 

The farmer can best leave the selection of the proper 
kinds to the mill agriculturist whose judgment and ex- 
perience better fit him to determine the relative merits of 
each. 

The amount of seed grown in the United States is 
limited, practically all we have coming from Utah and 
Washington. The high cost of labor seems to be the con- 

30 



trolling factor in this respect, for the seed produced com- 
pares very favorably with imported seed — the fact that 
it is somewhat acclimated no doubt accounting for this 
to a large extent. As a rule it is somewhat freer from 
weed seed. 

Germany, Austria, Holland, Poland, Russia and 
France are producers of beet seed. Most, if not all, 
mills import their own beet seed direct from the foreign 
grower, thereby gaining a number of advantages not 
open to the individual grower. For instance, the initial 
cost of the seed is less in large quantities, freight rates 
are reduced, while the possibility of redress in case of 
error is much greater. Moreover, it is very essential to 
know the existing conditions in Europe for the periods 
the beets are growing which are to produce the seed, 
and while the seed itself is developing. Poor keeping of 
the mother beets, extreme hot or cold spells of weather 
at critical times, drouth during the growing season, in- 
sects, disease, rain at harvest or frosts may cause en- 
tering factors well worth considering in the purchase of 
seed. 

To make a profitable run the mill must have the beets 
to work, and the selection of the proper seed is of para- 
mount importance to them. Their purchase of brands is 
based on careful compilations of field work from their 
own and government experiments followed up with care- 
ful germination tests, and examinations for weed seeds 
when the seed arrives. 

It requires several years of field testing to determine 
with accuracy the seed which will give the best results 
year in and year out. Not only must climatic conditions 
and variations be taken into account, but different soils 
require different brands. To determine these factors 
requires accurate voluminous records, a knowledge of 
the section where the seed was grown and its pedigree. 
When the work is supplemented by comparative tests 
of different brands handled exactly alike in the field — a 
local test not at all unusual — it is evident that the work 
of trying out the value of different brands can be han- 
dled much more properly and profitably by the mill than 
by the individual grower. 

The germination tests refer to the starting power of 

31 



the beet seed and is similar to the methods advocated 
for seed testing in general. 

In this connection a discussion of the relation of the 
mill to the kind of seed may well be considered. As 
the mill buys beets at a set price per ton, or on sugar 
percentage, and as the mill has the opportunity to select 
seed, it has been stated that the mill has a chance to regu- 
late the crop to suit itself, by choosing brands which 
will give the required results at the least cost to them- 
selves. But anyone familiar with the details of sugar 
beet districts is aware that mills cannot afiford to do so — 
at the present time anyway. All the mills require a large, 
steady supply of raw material, more than they obtain as 
a rule, and to secure this supply they are only too will- 
ing to institute such systems of payment as will make 
beet raising an inducement. The system of payment 
adopted is the one which gives the most satisfaction- to 
the greatest number of growers. The system also car- 
ried the bonus idea. If greater acreage is wanted the 
tonnage basis is offered ; if more sugar the percentage 
basis is used, while in many cases a choice of the two 
systems is given. In each case, however, the system is 
intended to accomplish the mill's desires by offering an 
increased rate of payment. 

Most factories buy two or more brands of seed for 
distribution and the grower who complains that he re- 
ceives a brand which favors the factory has several re- 
courses open. First, he should compare the returns from 
land in his section of the country with yields from other 
beet growing sections using the same brand of seed and 
determine if the difference is not due to his soil condi- 
tions or to his faulty methods of growing. He should 
also inform himself concerning the brands carried by the 
mill and choose the one which fulfills his needs most per- 
fectly. And, lastly, any factory is willing to permit a 
grower to buy his seed elsewhere if he wishes to pay the 
higher price, provided it is sugar beet seed and the re- 
sulting crop comes up to the mill requirements. The 
farmer gets protection, however, in the fact that if dis- 
satisfied with his beet returns he can and will turn to 
some other crop, and as this is possible in all sugar beet 
localities because of the agricultural possibilities of the 

32 



section which makes it suitable for beets it behooves the 
mill to cater to the wants of the farmers for, as stated 
previously, one of the biggest problems of the average 
sugar mill of the present day is to secure more beets. 
The mill must have beets, not only for one season but for 
years to come. The investment of capital is great and 
can be repaid only by many consecutive sugar making 
campaigns. The supply of beets must be steady to bring 
up the sugar output and for that reason alone if for no 
other, the mill could not afford to adopt a short sighted 
policy which would be bound to result in discontent 
among the farmers. For in times of high prices for 
other farm products, such as grains, hay, potatoes, beans 
and the like, the tendency would be for the farmer to 
decrease his beet acreage at the first opportunity at the 
least hint of ill treatment. 

Grozving Beet Seed. — The growing of beet seed is be- 
yond the scope of the farmer unless he devotes all of 
his time to the work. It is a special problem, requiring 
time, capital, experience and knowledge of breeding prin- 
ciples. For this reason combined with the scarcity of 
cheap labor seedsmen have been slow in taking up the 
work in this country. 

While in many instances it may pay the mill to grow 
its own seed, the amount of capital involved and the 
number of years to produce a sufficient quantity, means 
that forethought is necessary before embarking on the 
enterprise. The following will outline roughly the rou- 
tine for securing a steady supply of seed. 

To locally grow a constant supply of seed for a section 
requiring 60 tons per year, 10 acres are first planted with 
the best seed obtainable. A yield of about a 120 tons of 
beets will be secured from this planting, 13 of which will 
be removed and siloed, while 107 tons are marketed. The 
second year the same thing is repeated. In addition the 
last year's beets, the mother beets, are tested for sugar 
percentage, and those coming up to a required standard 
of sugar are planted out. Only about one acre is needed 
for this, as not more than two tons will come up to the 
requirements. 

In the fall the seed from these mother beets is har- 
vested, cleaned, graded and stored. The beets from the 
other field are treated as were the beets the year before. 

33 



The third year the operations of the first two years are 
repeated in the successive way in which they were done 
before. The seed of the second year is planted on "lo 
acres of fertile ground to produce very small, rich beets. 
The fourth year, the cycle is repeated and continued as 
in all previous years, as the aim is to keep a constant 
supply of seed com.ing in all the time. The small ''steck- 
lings" grown from mother beet seed in the third year are 
planted in lOO acres of land and these produce the seed 
for the factory's use. 

To produce this amount of seed will require about 600 
acres of land, taking crop rotation into account, but the 
60 tons of seed will be worth from 10 to 15 cents a 
pound, or $12,000 to $18,000, a sum probably far in ad- 
vance of the cost of producing the seed. 

Treated or Decorticated Seed. — This is seed treated 
with some process (involving the use of sulphuric acid) 
which removes much of the outer coating of the seed 
ball. This makes the cell walls thinner so that water is 
absorbed more rapidly by the seed and germination is 
promoted. Germination with this seed is increased, be- 
ing forty-eight hours ahead of the untreated, but on the 
other hand the hull of the seed seems to contain a certain 
amount of nutriment available to the young seedling, and 
as the number of seed to the ounce between the treated 
and untreated is about the same, the use of this sort of 
seed would be confined to special situations, requiring 
quick germinations. Further disadvantages are the 
greater liabiltv to germinate when stored, and to rot in 
the soil if germination is delayed after planting. 

Hulled or Shelled Seed is seed with much of the ball 
removed by mechanical means. The remarks under 
'Treated Seed" are applicable here. Some seed is on 
the market which has been treated with a combination 
of the two methods. 

Single Germ Seed. — In order to do away with much 
of the hand labor incident to thinning, the United States 
Department of Agriculture is working on the develop- 
ment of beet seed which will contain but a single sprout. 
Should such seed be secured in quantity, true to type 
and vigorous in character, it may prove a most important 
aid in lessening the cost of thinning, although heavy 

34 



planting must still be considered the rule in order that 
the seedlings may aid one another in coming through 
crusts and the like. 

Thinning Beets. — When the beets have from four to 
six leaves they are ready to thin. Thinning must be 
done promptly. If the undertaking is large it is better 
to begin when the beets are too small rather than to let 
them go so long that in thinning the last beets the work 
will have been so delayed that these are suffering for 
want of attention. The larger the beets the more the 
roots of those to be left will be disturbed and the harder 
the condemned ones will come out. If they pull hard 
the tops are apt to be broken off, and the roots will add 
forth new foliage so that double beets are the result. 

As to the spacing of beets, no definite law can be 
formulated which will cover all conditions. The Ger- 
man recommendation of 144 square inches usually must 
be doubled, if a 13/' to a 2-lb. beet is desired. 

When the rows are 20 inches apart the results from 
close spacing are usually the most satisfactory. The 
thinning must be suited, however, to the character of 
the soil, the amount of water available throughout the 
season, and to local conditions. For lands rather apt to 
have insufficient moisture from either the available sup- 
ply, or from the naturally poor moisture-retaining power 
of the soil greater distance between the beets is necessary 
than in the heavier class of soils receiving a more bounti- 
ful supply of water. The beets must be near together 
if it is desirable to shade the land as quickly a spossible 
to prevent the sun overheating the soil. 

Near thinning (4 to 8 inches) will give the greatest 
total yields, but the beets mostly are too small for easy 
topping and handling. Contract labor will neglect many 
of these. 

The supply of moisture and the retaining power of 
the soil, its natural strength as regard plant foods, and 
the distance apart of the rows are the factors to be con- 
sidered. In sandy, open land distances of from 10 to 
18 inches will prove best, while 6 to 12 inches will be 
enough on rich, well moistened land. 

As a general rule a space of 10 inches between the 



beets, when 20-inch rows are used will prove a general 
guide. 

In thinning, care to select and leave the largest plants 
will always pay. In a trial of this kind at the time of 
harvest the beets where care was used in thinning aver- 
aged 3 ounces more and tested 2.5 per cent more in sugar. 
This is not surprising, as the largest beets having no 
setbacks are most vigorous. The smaller beets are 
slower in reaching the surface after germinating, and 
consequently are not as vigorous when they appear, or 
they are beets damaged by root rot or insects in theii 
earliest stages. 

Cultivation. Frequent and thorough cultivation of the 
beet field is desirable at all times to preserve a surface 
mulch which will conserve moisture, destroy weeds, bring 
about air circulation in the soil, destroy shallow hardpans 
formed by working the soil and permit rapid and easy 
making of furrows for irrigation. 

Start the cultivators early, as soon as the beet rows 
show, and keep them going later, whenever the moisture 
conditions of the soil is such that the earth will not bale 
or pack in working. Most successful beet farmers culti- 
vate from four or five times, while a few cover the field 
seven or eight times. 

The kind of cultivator tooth to be used is one which 
will thoroughly stir the soil to the greatest possible depth 
— four, five, six or even more inches — without disturbing 
the beet root. Sometimes narrow deer tongues, one to 
the row and two rows to a team, will be all that can be 
used. In other soils the duck feet, or the weed knives 
doing four rows at a time will give the desired results. 
Only a study of the actual field work of the different 
implements will determine the kind to use. 

Where the rainfall is the source of moisture supply 
much can be done to alleviate unfavorable conditions of 
excess or scarcity of water by providing good drainage 
and giving thorough surface cultivation. 

Cultivation will serve a purpose but it must not De 
counted on to take the place of proper soil preparation. 
This is far more important than subsequent crop cultiva- 
tion. 

Growth of the Beet. — The handling of the land during 

36 









27 TONS TO THE ACRE. 



preceding years has a marked influence on the growth of 
the beet. The kind of crop, the depth of plowing, the 
shape in which the land was left at time of harvest, the 
number of irrigations and the amount of water applied, 
etc., all have an influence. 

Beets will not do well on raw new land or on poor 
lands, whether the trouble be lack of plant food, or too 
much or too little moisture. Beets will not follow some 
crops to advantage, a matter which will be discussed 
under ''Crop Rotation." 

The beet will stand periods of hot weather if there is 
ample moisture in the ground, but when the moisture 
decreases, especially in the first few inches of soil so that 
it heats up badly the plant is apt to suffer. The outer 
leaves turn yellow and die and the plant begins to wither. 
The beet may, and usually does, revive over night and 
appear vigorous the next morning, yet if the hot weather 
continues and no supply of moisture is forthcoming, it 
turns woody, dries out, and if small, burns up in the 
ground. Beets will wilt and show a yellow leaf here 
and there in land with plenty of moisture if the top soil 
becomes heated, but under such conditions will seldom 
suffer seriously and always make a good crop. 

Because light soils dry out quickly the beets are apt 
to suffer more than in the better moisture retaining lands. 
While beets will survive these sudden hot spells of 
weather, they are not desirable and the effect will be seen 
in a drawing out of the leaves and a yellowing in the color 
of the foliage, a condition which is overcome, however, 
with the coming of normal weather. If such spells can 
be counted on at certain periods, early plantings to get 
the beet as far ahead as possible before they come will 
prove very advantageous. 

In general, the conditions governing the plant's growth 
with reference to sudden change of weather may be 
summed up as : (a) Cool weather forces growth; (b) 
hot weather forces ripening. 

Harvesting. — The time of harvest depends on the num- 
ber of acres, the amount of help available, the weather 
and other local conditions. To secure the best results on 
large tracts it is advisable to grow both early and late 
beets. If the work extends over a long period and only 

38 



early maturing beets are grown the last of the harvest 
will result in beets of a lower sugar percentage — as quick 
maturing beets are at their maximum sugar content when 
first mature. Ten days after a slight decline sets in, 
which, although not great, will reduce the total sugar 
output. This is important to the grower who sells on a 
percentage basis. Moreover, should wet weather set in 
after the beets mature and before they are harvested, 
secondary growth may start preparatory to the formation 
of seed and will be accompanied by a decrease in the 
sugar content. 

If all the beets are of the late maturing kind the great- 
est returns will not be secured at the beginning of the 
harvest either with respect to tonnage or sugar content — 
if early plowing out is necessary. 

A well balanced planting of each type will give the 
best returns to both grower and mill. 

Plowing out should be delayed until the beets are ripe. 
Maturity will be indicated by a yellowing in the color 
of the leaves after the beets have been in the ground four 
months or more, accompanied by a slackening of growth 
and a ring of dead or dying leaves around the outer 
circle of the beet. Sometimes drying out is confused with 
ripening but this occurs where the moisture conditions are 
unfavorable. Where this occurs the seemingly ripe char- 
acteristics will appear more or less abruptly and the root 
will be soft, dry and rubber-like. Mature beets are solid, 
brittle, juicv and with a sweetish taste. 

In addition to the appearance of the field sugar tests 
of the beets themselves are sure guides to the degree of 
ripeness. For testing, a sample of ten beets should be 
selected. The individual variation of the beets is so 
great that never less than ten beets should be taken. In 
taking samples a rough estimate first should be secured 
of the different types of beets in the field, and an attempt 
then made to proportion the number m the sample to 
correspond as closely as possible with the field conditions. 

Beets should contain at least 12 percent sugar^ The 
sugar content rests largely with the grower. The mill 
cannot make sugar— it can only extract it. The sugar 
is put into the beets in the field under the influence of 
the conditions surrounding it. While the grower cannot 

39 



^'^ 







i»^^.. 





control the weather conditions, he can, to a great extent, 
influence the crop by providing proper conditions of seed- 
bed, thinning, irrigation, cultivation and harvesting. 

The purity of the juice refers to the amount of sugar 
in it as cornpared with the total amount of salts present. 
Contained in the juice of the beet are substances in solu- 
tion other than sugar, present in quantities of from lo to 
40 per cent or more of the whole, such as proteins, nitro- 
genous matters, and the like. It is the presence of these 
substances which make sugar extraction expensive — the 
cost being several times increased over the increase in 
am.ount of foreign substance, because of the gelatinous 
nature of these impurities which makes separation much 
more difficult. They also decrease the amount of sugar 
which can be extracted. If these impurities pass into 
the sugar they impart disagreeable odors and discolora- 
tions, thus seriously impairing the market value of the 
sugar. As only a small percentage of these impurities 
is necessary to obstruct mill operations, a comparativel) 
nure beet is the only kind fit for sugar making purposes. 
For this reason the factory must insist that beets test 
:it least 80 per cent purity. In other words, it means 
that of the total substances dissolved in the juice of the 
beet four-fifths must be sugar. In speaking of the suear 
content of the beet, however, reference is made to tht 
percentage of sugar based on the weight of the whole 
iuice. Thit is. a beet testing 15 per cent sugar has fifteen 
hundredths of its juice pure sugar. Based on the total 
weii^ht of the beet as it comes from the field the suear 
content is from 93 to 96 per cent of the amount in the 
juice — or an average of 94 per cent. 

Purity is dependent on a number of factors in the 
field, such as the amount of sunshine, fog. soil moisture, 
strength of the land, uninterrupted growth of the plant, 
temperature of air and soil, and so on. Any condition 
which will prolong the time of ripening will keep the 
sugar down. A thoroughly ripe beet is always satis- 
factory in point of purity. 

The time of ripening is influenced by: (a) Cold night? 
or days; (b) foggy spells: (c) hours of sunshine: ( d) 
moisture in the soil; (e) character of the soil; and (f) 
newness of the land. 

41 



Usually orders for harvesting come from the mill, 
based on tests of the grower's beets. A steady supply 
of beets is required to run the mill to advantage and'at 
the same time avoid an overstock because an excess is 
liable to decay in the bins if left too long. Such beets 
are worthless for sugar purposes. The superintendent 
is obliged to gauge the receipts of beets according to the 
mill's requirements. In favored localities the beets can 
be left in the ground until the mill can receive them but 
where severe spells of weather occur with alternate freez- 
ing and thawing the beets must be given protection. The 
added cost of handling, however, is borne by the mill, 
by paying more for such beets. The mill men are 
shouldering their share of the burden. 

Siloing. — The usual method of protecting beets which 
must be dug and cannot be delivered at once is by siloing. 
If siloing is found necessary, any method which will pre- 
vent decay and drying out is good. An atmosphere not 
too dry with proper circulation of air will do wonders 
in keeping beets in good condition. Good results in 
siloing are secured by leaving the top of the silo open 
and covering with a light coat of beet tops while the 
beets go through the usual sweat and while cold weather 
comes, when they can be safely covered with soil. Old 
straw can be used between the beets and the soil to good 
advantage. If the soil surrounding the silo is dry it can 
be wet sparingly but thoroughly. The idea is to equalize 
moisture conditions so that the earth will not draw from 
the beets in order to bring up its moisture content. This 
is done away with by wetting the soil. Experiments run 
in Colorado show a loss of only a little over 2 per cent in 
weight in beets put in a silo of this kind which was pre- 
viously moistened, while the beets in a similar silo left 
dry lost over 5 per cent during the same period. 

Long, rather low, wide piles of beets are preferable to 
high conical piles. 

Handling the Beets in the Field. — The easiest way to 
handle the beets after they are plowed out is to gather 
nine rows together in a long windrow with the roots 
extending all in the same direction. The topper then 
comes along on his hands and knees. The usual method 
of cutting with a knife can be facilitated by clamping a 

42 



small pick extending one inch below the blade on the 
end of the knife. The next beet to be topped can be 
picked lip with this without the necessity of bending over. 
The use of this presupposes that they will be worked up 
immediately at the mill before there is danger of rot 
setting in at the exposed place. Beet knife tips are some- 
times objected to, however, on the ground that they open 
a certain number of sugar cells from which the sugar is 
lost during the beet washing process at the mill. 

As the beets are topped, an improvement over throwing 
them into piles is for the topper to stand them on end 
right by his side. This will take less time and effort 
than throwing into piles, reduces evaporation from the 
cut end, and greatly facilitates loading by hand when 
the wagon comes along. The beets can be picked up by 
the tails and two rows of topped beets will be loaded at 
once. The saving in energy and time on the part of the 
laborers will well repay the effort spent in breaking them 
in to this method if they are not already accustomed to it. 

The preceding recommendation applies, of course, tc 
half-pound beets or larger. 

Topping Beets. — ^A question often puzzling to the 
farmer is where to top his beets. Shall it be just below 
the leaves, half way to the ground line or at the ground 
line? 

The answer to this question is to be found in an 
analysis of the beets. 

It has been found that a crop of 20 tons of roots per 
acre will analyze as follows : 

Phos- 
Yield per phoric Nitro- 

acre. Potash. Acid. gen. Lime. Total. 

Section of the beet. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. 

Whole beet 72,000 387 116 173 224 1,350 

Tops cut at ground line. 32,000 235 80 113 208 1,063 
Roots 40,000 182 36 60 16 287 

The figures represent the number of pounds of the dif- 
ferent plant foods taken and used up by the different 
parts of the beet and the beet as a whole from the soil 
in one acre of ground. 

A glance will show that the smallest loss to the land 
will consist in topping at the ground line, as the "tops" 
in the table refer to the growth above ground, while the 
"roots" is the part underground. 

43 



The sugar in the beet is all that the mill can use. This 
sugar is "concentrated sunshine" — not plant foods. There- 
fore, it stands the farmer in hand to sell as much sun- 
shine and as little plant food as possible. Moreover, the 
mill will deduct a certain percentage for green tops as 
they contain the very salts in largest proportion which 
makes the extraction of sugar difficult. This deduction 
is really a protection to the farmer, although few farmers 
fully appreciate the fact. They keep on sending in beets 
with green tops receiving a 4, 6 or even a greater percent 
reduction on them, thus not only receiving nothing but 
paying the freight and hauling on them and robbing the 
land of its most valuable ingredients. 

This represents on a 20-ton crop of roots : 

Nitrogen at 14 cents $15.82 

Phosphoric acid at 4V2 cents 3.60 

Potash at 6 cents 11.75 

Total $31.17 

All of this is not sold with the beets, of course, but it 
is a sum of money which need not be drawn on at all 
and will then prove more satisfactory to both the farmer 
and the mill. 

With certain classes of labor it is almost necessary to 
stand over the workers with a club (figuratively speak- 
ing) to insure proper topping, but this pays if it results 
in correct topping. 

The disposition of the tops after the harvest is often 
a pertinent question. From the analysis it is plain that 
the tops should never be hauled off the land and fed un- 
less the manure is returned intact. Constant hauling off 
with no return will mean the eventual purchase of com- 
mercial fertilizers. 

The best method is to scatter the tops and plow them 
under green. This returns humus and all the plant food. 
Green tops will contain three times as much humus as 
dry tops or as the manure resulting from feeding. Next 
to plowing under green is plowing under dry. Third, is 
feeding to stock on the ground. As long as the soil re- 
mains dry so that the tramping of the soil will not puddle 
it and put it in poor physical condition, feeding is very 
nearly equal to plowing under the dry tops as the manure 
contains about 80 per cent of the total plant foods re- 

44 



moved by the crop. More will be said of stock feeding 
under the consideration of "Feeding By-Products." 

Schedules of Payment Determine the Beet to Grow. — 
A beet weighing two pounds, symmetrical in outline, 
well-ripened, with small crown and compactly placed 
leaves, containing a high percentage of sugar of excellent 
purity is the ideal beet to grow. But the kind of beet the 
farmer will grow depends on the character of his land 
and on the mill requirements. This is shown in the 
schedules of payment offered by the mill. They are 
based on, first, a desire to stimulate interest and to insure 
the growing of sugar beets; and, second, to influence 
the grower to raise the sort of beet desired by the mill. 
If raw material is wanted the mill offers a flat rate per 
ton; if sufficient raw material is forthcoming and the 
mill wishes to raise the quality of the beets it does so by 
paying for beets on the sugar content basis. In this way 
a bonus is offered for high testing beets. Often a mill 
offers a choice of the basis of payment. 

By tonnage payment is meant the flat rate payment 
offered for beets by the ton. This varies from $4 to $6, 
and even more for siloed beets. By sugar content pay- 
ment is meant the payment for the beets on a plan based 
on the sugar content of the beets. In other words, the 
mill recognizes quality. Rates vary considerably at the 
different mills for quality payments. An example is the 
following: Beets testing 12 per cent sugar will be paid 
for at a rate of $4.25 per ton, with an increase of 25 
cents for every additional percent of sugar over twelve. 
By this method, for beets testing 18 per cent the mill 
would pay $4.25 for the first 12 per cent and $1.50 for the 
extra percentage, or a total of $5.75 for each ton of 
beets. 

Whether the mill specifies payment on a tonnage basis 
or on the sugar content, or gives a choice of either meth- 
od, the grower should first of all do everything to get 
the tonnage. He should, therefore, select his strongest 
and best land. A study of yields from the different 
lands quickly will prove this point. For instance, say, 
the light lands on your ranch will produce 10 tons of 
beets per acre testing 18 per cent sugar, while the heavier, 
better land will yield 20 tons testing 12 per cent. Sup- 

45 



pose the mill pays $4.25 a ton for 12 per cent beets with 
an additional 25 cents for every per cent increase in sugar 
over the 12 per cent; in other words, pays on a ^ugar 
percentage basis, then the light land would bring in from 
the rich beets $57.50 per acre ($5.75 per ton). The 
heavy land would bring in $85 ($4.25 a ton). 

If the beets were paid for on the flat rate basis, the 
rich land would bring in, supposing the rate to be $5 a 
ton, $100, while the light land would bring in only half 
that or $50. Of course the cost of producing the crop 
would vary, the big crop costing more because of 
greater expenditures for labor, hauling and freight. 
Based on actual figures, however, this would be, say 
$27.85 for the crop on the light land and $49.35 for the 
heavy crop. Therefore, it would pay to select the heavy, 
rich, fertile land because on a tonnage basis two and 
one-fourth times greater profit would be made over the 
light land; while on a sugar basis it would give one and 
one-third the profit of the light land. 

Carrying the point one step farther, leaving aside the 
question of choice of land and confining attention to a 
choice of payments it is evident that on the light soil 
greater profits can be secured from the sugar basis while 
the reverse is true on the heavy land. Here the tonnage 
receipts are in excess, being $85 against $100. In each 
case the cost is the same. 

The foregoing example illustrates the importance of 
a proper selection of land for beet growing and of study- 
ing the payment schedules. A mill wanting sugar makes 
inducements to get it, while a mill in need of raw material 
will make it worth the grower's time to raise quantity 
instead of quality. 

Generally, warm, light lands will produce early crops, 
rich in sugar and only fair in tonnage. The heavier type 
of lands, as clay loams, will run to tonnage production 
and less to sugar. 

Labor Problems. — Every sugar beet grower who is 
raising beets to any extent at all is confronted with the 
labor problem, for beet growing requires much hand 
labor, especially at thinning and harvesting times. 
Scarcity of labor and high wages are doing much to stifle 
the industry. When a man puts in only enough land so 

46 



that he and his family can do all the work themselves the 
work is taken care of automatically. But for large acre- 
ages requiring much hired help the problem grows in 
extent as the acreage increases. 

Best results come from hiring labor on a time or ton- 
nage basis. To have the labor done by piece work, that 
is, by the row or field, is not at all satisfactory. The 
time work has its objections as well, but is an improve- 
ment over piece work. For best results with a fairly 
intelligent class of labor, the sliding scale tonnage basis 
of payment is proving the most satisfactory. The ton- 
nage basis alone fixes a set price to be paid for the hand 
labor based on the yield of the field and is oflfered to con- 
tractors (Chinese, Japanese, Mexican or the like) who 
guarantee to furnish all the help needed for properly 
thinning the beets, hoeing weeds from the rows, cleaning 
irrigation ditches, handling the irrigation water, and at 
harvest for pulling, topping and loading the beets onto 
wagons. This scheme has worked fairly well for a long 
time, especially in California, but the wily contractor soon 
began to discriminate between the fields on different soils. 
A growing scarcity of labor made this still more ap- 
parent, and also forced the contractor to pay higher 
wages so that he was compelled to ask more money for 
his work in order to protect himself. A farmer then 
raising beets on poor land or by poor methods suffered by 
the greater price asked of him, supposing he was able to 
get some one to handle his contract at all. To equalize 
matters for both contractor and grower many sections 
adopted ^he sliding scale tonnage basis. In this scheme 
the different yields per acre are recognized and the pay 
proportioned according to the yield. In fact, the method 
merely brought to a uniform plane the methods being 
practiced in a haphazard manner by the labor contractors. 
Thinning is as expensive on one kind of land as on an- 
other where the stand and soil preparation is the same. 
Then at harvest the work in handling the beets is propor- 
tionate to their weight, being greater for the smaller 
beets. This scheme is worked out on actual cost of the 
work and gives a high rate for low yields and a low rate 
for big yields, the rate thus decreasing as the yield in- 
creases. In this way a basis of payment mutually sat- 

47 



isfactory to all concerned can be worked out for all 
conditions. 

Where labor conditions are especially bad, care in 
working the land to make it as smooth as possible and to 
destroy the greatest number of weeds will aid materially 
in cutting down the cost of maintenance. If the surface 
of the ground is cloddy the time and fatigue of thinning 
is greatly increased. If cultivations are neglected the cost 
of extra weedings must be borne by the crop. 

The use of the best types of farm implements is worth 
mentioning in this connection. Money spent in the pur- 
chase of improved modern sugar beet machinery or for 
any other kind of farm work for that matter is well 
invested. 

Irrigation. — There is nothing equal to natural ram- 
fall for beets. Not only does it soak into the ground 
better than irrigation water, but it soaks levees, ditch 
banks, and other necessary high spots which are inac- 
cessible to irrigation. Rainfall also lessens evaporation. 
This is accomplished not only by the fact that moisture 
is gained from the clouds during rainy weather, but also 
because evaporation from the fields is reduced to almost 
nothing. Moreover, when evaporation does again set in 
the drain from the beet land is not as great as it other- 
wise would be because the whole surrounding country is 
soaked. When any portion of the country is dry it heats 
the atmosphere, and as dry air makes big demands upon 
the soil for moisture, the irrigated fields are forced to 
give up more in proportion than they would otherwise 
be obliged to do. 

On the other hand, the opportunity to put water on 
the fields when the crop is in need of it, the less danger 
of rains interfering with the farming operations, or with 
the crop during maturity are big advantages in favor of 
irrigation. 

Preparation for Irrigation. — The construction of irri- 
gation facilities will pay in many localities even when, 
in general, the rainfall is sufiicient. The use of a small 
quantity of water at just the time the plant requires it 
will mean an increase in the final returns. Should the 
rains come nothing further need be done, but if no rain 
does fall when the beets are in need of water, then the 

48 



supply of irrigation water will be appreciated. I believe 
that in many sections where full dependence is now 
placed on the rainfall that a judicious amount of irriga- 
tion facilities will prove to be a paying proposition. 

To put in an irrigation system is by no means a very 
difficult job, although it is a subject requiring fore- 
thought and study. Various factors enter into the plan- 
ning of a system and each must be considered, not only 
separately but in connection with the scheme as a whole. 
A few of these are: 

(a) The source of the water, whether stream or well; 

(b) The necessity for storing; 

(c) Whether a sufficient quantity is available; this de- 
pends on : the distance it must be carried ; the character 
of the soil in the field and in the ditch ; the amount of 
land to be covered ; the number of men using the water ; 
the height of the stream above the land (if a stream is 
the source) at the time when water is required ; 

(d) Whether the water is secured by gravity fall or by 
pumping. 

(e) If pumped, the height to be raised; and the 
amount of water needed. 

(f) The slope of the land. 

(g) The amount of money available for the purpose. 

Accurate determination of all the foregoing is neces- 
sary in order to arrive at an estimate of the cost and 
possibilities which will in turn determine the system to be 
used both as regards securing the water, and for proper 
preparation of the fields for the reception and handling 
of the water when it gets to them. 

In most of the beet growing sections irrigation has 
been so instrumental in developing the industry that the 
systems for applying the water are well worked out. On 
a large scale, involving much water and considerable 
land, the services of a well trained, competent irrigation 
engineer are necessary. His training and experience will 
mean the installation of the most efficient system at the 
minimum cost. 

How the water shall be put on the land once it arrives 
can be determined by the farmer for himself, whether 
his supply comes from a small private plant or from a 
big mutual canal. This will depend on a number of fac- 

49 



tors, such as the amount of labor available for handling 
the water, the lay of the land, the quantity of water avail- 
able, and the amount of acreage to be covered. , 

When the water supply is to be developed for tracts of 
small area, the problem often can be worked out by the 
farmer himself, if the development of the project in- 
volves no serious problems in the selection of machinery 
or in field surveying. Even if the farmer should under- 
take the work himself it will usually pay him to secure 
the services of a good surveyor for two or three days in 
order properly to plan the line of ditches and the location 
of the checks. It is practically impossible to determine 
the direction and amount of slope of the land with the 
naked eye, when the amount of fall is but two or three 
feet to the hundred, or even less. 

In arid sections where beet growing is an established 
industry or in new districts of the same nature where 
sugar beets are to be grown, the water supply is one of 
the first factors determined by the mill people. The 
many thousands of dollars which must be invested to put 
up a sugar mill means that great care is exercised in in- 
vestigating the water resources and in developing a sup- 
ply where one does not already exist. In such localities 
the grower need not concern himself with the develop- 
ment of the water supply, as it is brought right to the 
land. All he has to do is to take care of it after it ar- 
rives. It is beyond the scope of this work to more than 
hint at the results to be gained by developing the irriga- 
tion possibilities of a country. Many factors enter into 
the profitable utilization of water which cannot be 
touched upon at this time. But it is a fact that many 
advantages result from a constant, ever-ready reserve of 
water, which can be drawn upon when needed, even if 
irrigation is not an absolute necessity. 

The discussion of the ways of preparing the land for 
the irrigation of sugar beets may well be discussed, as it 
is the aim of every grower to get the greatest returns 
possible from the use of the water. Irrigation is expen- 
sive work, and anything that will reduce the cost of 
handling the water will redound in greater profits on the 
crop. One of the most economical ways of saving is by 
the proper preparation of the land in the first place for 

50 



the reception of the water. There are several different 
methods which can be used in irrigating beets, or any 
other general farm crops, for that matter, each of which 
has its advantages as well as certain disadvantages. 
Which shall be used largely must be determined by the 
prevailing conditions of the section as well as by the 
object sought. 

In this connection the different methods must first be 
discussed and then the proper way of preparing the land 
for these methods. 

Methods of Irrigation. A number of methods are 
practiced such as : 

1. Flooding, by means of 

(a) Slip pipe, 

(b) Contour level checks, 

(c) Rectangular level checks, 

(d) Sloping checks. 

2. Furrows. 

3. Ditches. 

4. Underflow. 

5. Subirrigation. 

The slip pipe method consists in the use of galvanized 
iron pipe made in 12-foot lengths with the ends so fash- 
ioned that one joint will fit into the next and make a 
fairly tight connection. The pipe is laid to the part of 
the field to be irrigated, and as fast as a piece of land is 
irrigated successive sections of pipe are slipped off until 
the line of pipe is exhausted, or until the section of the 
field to be watered is completed. 

With the check system, the land is surveyed, graded, 
and leveled, the water being run into basins of varying 
sizes (usually not over two acres being in one check). 
The checks either follow the natural contour of the land, 
following the rise and fall, or if the land is level they are 
made rectangular in shape. In either case the bottoms of 
the checks are level. The water is held in these basins 
by either temiporary or permanent earth borders or 
levees. 

A variation of the level check system is the sloping 
check or "blanket" check. These checks are from 200 to 
1,000 feet long, and from 50 to 100 feet wide, with a 
fall of from 3 to 6 inches to the hundred feet — the greater 

51 



fall for the sandy land, the lesser for the heavy soils. 

With any of the flooding systems, the checks are some- 
times placed in series so that the water can be drawn 
off from one to another, after it has stood in the first 
check long enough to penetrate to the required depth. 
When in series the fall of the land determines the posi- 
tion aMd size of the checks. 

Furrow irrigation consists in running the water down 
little ditches scraped or cultivated out between the rows of 
growing plants. The water is allowed to flow slowly 
down these little ditches in tiny rivulets. The furrows 
have a fall of three to six inches to the hundred feet, and 
water is allowed to run in them until the soil is moistened 
by tke percolation of the water down to the required 
depth. 

Diteh irrigating consists in plowing out temporary 
ditches, 4 to 10 inches deep, right in the beet fields, for 
use in guiding the water in a general direction. 

Underflow irrigation is accomplished by a series of 
underground pipes which carry the water to the various 
parts of the field and release it underground. 

Subirrigation is irrigation by means of a natural sup- 
ply of water under the soil where the beets grow, ac- 
complished by raising the water table or by utilizing hard 
strata of soil for holding up the water and permitting it 
to spread throughout the mass of top soil. 

All of these methods have their advantages and disad- 
vantages. Around the sugar mill where the waste water 
must be taken care of the use of large checks are the first 
consideration so that large quantities of water can be 
handled cheaply and quickly. The irrigation serves the 
double purpose of disposing of the waste water from the 
mill, and of supplying needed moisture to the fields. It 
is put on at a time when the land is unoccupied so that 
large quantities of water can be used. This is the pre- 
vious-to-planting irrigation of the crop. In many sections 
this one irrigation will suffice to carry the crop through 
the season without further application of water. 

The method to employ depends on the individual case. 
The amount of water required by the crop, of course, is 
the first consideration. If crop irrigations are needed the 
frequency and quantity required must be taken into ac- 

52 



count, and whether the summer irrigation is united 
with a winter appHcation. We can count on three condi- 
tions, winter irrigation alone, summer irrigation, or crop 
irrigation, alone, or winter combined with summer. By 
winter is meant the previous-to-planting irrigation ; by 
summer the crop irrigations. When the winter irrigation 
alone will suffice, the best method is the one which will 
cover the most area in the shortest possible time. When 
crop irrigations are required, the method will depend on 
the climatic conditions and the amount of help available. 

In countries where beet culture is a new industry, con- 
siderable experimenting to determine the proper method 
of irrigation will be necessary. By actually growing the 
beets in the field under different periods of irrigation, the 
requirements as regards the application of water can be 
determined. On this basis the subsequent scheme for 
preparing the land can be worked out. This is something 
that is usually done in determining the value of a country 
for a sugar mill. Once the needs of the crop are known, 
the method of irrigation can be planned. If the crop re- 
quires one or more applications of water when growing, 
the method must take this into account. 

In general the advantages and disadvantages of the 
various systems are rather sharply defined. 

The slip pipe method requires but little preparation of 
the land and the water can be taken to any point without 
loss. With high priced water this method has its ad- 
vantages, but at best is costly to install and handle. For 
sugar beets it has but a limited use. 

The check system must be based on the character of 
the land. Where the grade is very nearly uniform the 
rectangular check can be used. Otherwise the contour 
check is necessary. In no case can the check system be 
used where the land does not slope evenly for from three 
to fifteen feet to the mile. When the grade is steeper, high 
levees are required close together, and these tend to be- 
come of such height that farming operations are difficult 
and the cost of construction is almost prohibitive. The 
advantages of a properly constructed system of this kind 
is the opportunity to irrigate with a large volume of wa- 
ter and the cost of applying is less than in any other sys- 
tem. The cost of maintenance is small after the first year, 
and, with certain soils, it is often the onlv method which 

53 



will give satisfaction. This is especially true on sandy 
lands where the seepage is so great that a big body of 
water put on all at once will prove to be about the ofily 
way to reach all parts of the field and checks alike. With 
ilooding the distribution of the water is more even, and 
the amount put on can be readily gaged both by gates 
and by borings made in the field. The last advantage is 
a distinct one as the need of accurate knowledge concern- 
ing the movement of the soil moisture is of vital impor- 
tance in determining the needs of the crops. 

The method has its disadvantages. Surface soil must 
be removed for levees, the levees do not receive water 
equally with the rest of the field, in the heavier soils per- 
colation does not reach beneath them, and they prove an- 
noying when using the farm machinery. Its first cost is 
high, a large volume of water is necessary, and care must 
be exercised in using water on lands which are liable to 
suffer from oversaturation. In many cases this may mean 
the proper installation of drainage facilities. The sys- 
tem cannot be used in countries where excessive dry tem- 
peratures will heat the water to a point involving danger 
of scalding the beets. 

With the furrow system the advantages consist in a 
saving of water from seepage and evaporation, the doing 
away with levees, the convenience in handling the water, 
the absence of soil crusts after irrigating, and the possi- 
bility of using a small head of water. 

The greater length of time required to spread the wa- 
ter, the unequal flow which usually occurs, the uneven dis- 
tribution of the water in the furrow and soil, the neces- 
sity for making the furrows each time, and the danger 
of using an insufficient amount of water, especially when 
trying to cover a large tract of land in a short time, are 
the disadvantages of furrow irrigation. 

The ditch method has little to recommend it. It is a 
scheme which can be used on land requiring an unfore- 
seen irrigation for which there is inadequate preparation. 
It is cheap to construct, the ditches do not interfere with 
farming as they are put in only when needed, and it per- 
mits the deliverance of water in continuous sheets. Its 
disadvantages are the difficult and excessive labor in 
handling, the difficulty in controlling the water, the un- 

54 



even distribution, the loss of the beets in plowing out the 
ditches, and the necessity that the land be of such texture 
that sideways — as well as downward — percolation will 
readily take place. 

Only passing reference need be made to subirrigation 
and subflow. With the former initial outlay is 
heavy, and will seldom pay with a crop like beets. It does 
away with surface cultivation, but this is a doubtful gain. 
Both of these methods are feasible only in special and ex- 
ceptional situations. 

Underflow or "natural subirrigation" consists in rein- 
forcing the natural country drainage. It is available only 
where a cheap, large supply of water can be obtained and 
where the soil rests on a hardpan or the previous clay 
layer, which will hold up the water. Where natural sub- 
irrigation occurs, it can be made good use of, but for a 
general scheme of development it does not compare with 
others. 

From the results obtained in sections using irrigation 
extensively the sloping check or the furrow systems will, 
I believe, offer the most universal satisfaction. Which of 
these to choose will depend on the labor available for put- 
ting on the water, the slope of the land, the amount 
of water obtainable, the periods when the water must be 
applied, and the amount of acreage to be covered in a 
given time. The flooding method gives the ground a 
more uniform soaking, and is rapid. Therefore, it re- 
quires a big head. The labor is less in handling. The 
furrow requires less water but necessitates more help. 
Where the soil tends to bake or crack, or when there is 
liability of scalding the plants with the water, furrowing 
will be the preferable method to use. If there is much 
irrigating up of the seed to do furrowing methods are pre- 
ferable. 

Preparation of the Land for Irrigation. — The first 
work to be done in actually preparing the fields for irriga- 
tion is to determine the direction and rate of fall. The 
most profitable way to do this, in the majority of cases, is 
to hire a surveyor to run the lines and from these deter- 
mine the location of the ditches and levees. This applies 
to even comparatively small tracts — 20 or 30 acres. This 
work is especially necessary when the slope is slight. 



Methods have been evolved for a small amount of work 
by which the farmer can run his own lines. An example 
is the use of a spirit level, or something of that nature. 
Descriptions of these methods can be obtained from the 
nearest experiment station or from the United States 
Department of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Sta- 
tions, Washington, D. C. ; but at best these methods are 
crude and unless the farmer understands something of 
surveying he will find the descriptions rather complicated. 

The main fact to bear in mind in getting the land in 
shape is to put it in as good condition as possible at the 
start. Reworking, to correct initial mistakes, is costly and 
unsatisfactory. 

To properly prepare it, the land should first be plowed 
or cuhivated to a depth of 8 inches. Dead furrows and 
headlands should be avoided as far as possible. Follow- 
ing the plowing, such implements as are required to put 
the land in a finely pulverized condition should be used. 

The aim should be to work the land at the right degree 
of moisture in order to put it in as good shape as for a 
crop of alfalfa. After the soil is properly fined it should 
be allowed to settle and to dry on top. Leveling and 
grading come next. 

Leveling to cut ofif slight irregularities on the surface 
will be required in every case. For this purpose a stand- 
ard well made grader, wooden float, or leveller made of 
timber can be used, the kind which will pay best depend- 
ing on the amount of the work which is to be done. 

Once the land is in good, smooth condition, the actual 
work on the irrigation system will go forward. First of 
all comes the placing of the network of ditches which are 
to convey the water to the different parts of the field. 
These will be placed in accordance with the original plan 
of irrigation decided on. The size to make the ditches 
depends on the amount of water which is to be carried in 
them. They should be large enough to carry all the water 
with an additional depth sufficient to offset silting or sand- 
ing up which is bound to occur with muddy waters or 
where the fall varies in different parts of the same ditch. 
The shape of the ditch and its grade will affect its capac- 
ity. The shape will be determined largely by the imple- 
ments used in making it. As a general rule it will be 

56 



more or less rounded out. The grade will be determined 
by the character of the soil— the danger of scouring out 
the ditch being greater in sandy soils— and by the volume 
of water required. The greater the grade the more wa- 
ter it will carry. A fall of from one-fourth to one foot 
per loo feet is usually correct. 

The initial point where the water is received should be 
at the highest point of land under which the farmer ever 
expects to irrigate, and from there carried to the differ- 
ent parts of the farm. By winding around hills, by using 
flashboards, by siphoning, fluming or filling in depressions 
ditches can l^e made to carry water almost everywhere 
hut uphill. 

After the ditches are put in the character of the work 
will change to suit the method which is to be installed. If 
the land is to be furrow^ed, no further work beyond the 
making of the field ditches will be required until it is time 
to fix the land for the proper reception of the water, 
whether this be before planting or after the crop is in. 
Furrows are then made from two to five or six inches 
deep with smooth firm sides. This is most easily accom- 
plished by means of a furrowing sled, or by attaching 
regular furrowing shovels to the beet cultivator frame. 
The sled is made of two 6x6 or 8x8, forty-two inches 
long. These are the runners. They are spaced and well 
braced far enough apart so that each runner will run in 
the center on either every row or of every other row of 
beets. The runners travel on edge and are sharpened 
at the forward end to a vertical wedge shape. The parts 
coming in contact with the soil should be faced with iron, 
especially at the forward ends. 

The furrows are made between the rows and end in a 
head ditch which is plowed out parallel to the main field 
lateral ditch. In irrigating with these ditches and fur- 
rows only a small amount of water is turned in at once. 
This is made to run slowly and to penetrate deeply. The 
furrows should be between 300 and 500 feet long, the 
lesser distance for the greater slope. But in no case 
should the grade be greater than 6 inches to the hundred 
feet in light lands and 3 inches in heavy soils if the best 
results are to be obtained. Improvements over the usual 
methods of regulating the water by means of a shovel- 

57 



fill of earth placed in the head ditches, consist of short 
wooden sprouts made of four pieces of lath nailed to- 
gether, which is placed in the ditch bank. These regiflate 
the flow in each ditch and do away with all danger of 
washing out the temporary ditch banks. A more elab- 
orate scheme is the replacing of the head ditch with a 
wooden flume having 2-inch holes bored to correspond 
with the position of the furrows, and fitted with galvan- 
ized iron gates so that the water can be shut off at will. 
A further improvement over the wooden flume is one of 
concrete similar in construction to the wooden one. 

In preparing the land for sloping checks, each check 
is enclosed with a levee which restrains the water put 
there. Where these levees shall be placed is determined 
by the difference in elevation of the land, as the degree of 
slope should not be any greater in the check than in the 
furrow system, i. e., 3 to 6 inches fall for every hundred 
feet. Levees should not be over a foot in height and, 
therefore, cannot include in their area more than 6 to 9 
inches slope for any one check. On the other hand, with 
the exception of soils of too loose a character, the bottom 
of the check may be nearly flat. For quick, thorough ir- 
rigation some fall is desired up to the limits just stated. 
Broad, flat levees are to be preferred to narrow, abrupt 
ones. Less land will receive water when the former are 
employed, l)ut the ease in working the fields is much 
enhanced. The levees should be built a bit higher than 
actually desired, as the loose soil which is scraped up 
to make them is bound to settle considerably through 
future farming and irrigating operations. 

Once the planning of the levees in done the work will 
progress rapidly by driving the scrapers which throw up 
the levees across each check. These will pick up soils 
from the knolls and high places, carrying it to the levee, 
dump, pass over, fill, travel to the next levee, and so on 
the length of the field. This does away with turning 
around, and where too much cutting away is not required 
will work to perfection. 

Whether wooden or concrete head-gates shall be used 
to regulate the direction of flow in the ditches, depends 
on the choice of the farmer, the cost of the raw material, 
and the amount of money available for this branch of 

58 



the work. The use of the ''tappoon" — a movable piece of 
heavy sheet iron to be driven into the ditch and extending 
a bit into each bank — is used in many cases for effectually 
shutting off the flow in the ditch and forcing the water 
onto the land. It will facilitate the handling of the wa- 
ter when using small streams. For large streams the 
canvas dam is finding almost universal approval. The 
top end of a sheet of canvas is turned down and sewed, 
leaving an opening through which passes a 2x4 or a 4x4 
timber of sufficient length to reach from ditch bank to 
ditch bank. Plenty of canvas is used so that it will extend 
a few inches along the bottom of the ditch when the dam 
is in use. A few shovelsful of soil are then placed on 
this lap and along the sides of the canvas to hold it in 
place and to prevent the water working its way under- 
neath. 

All of these structures are used to back up the water 
so that it will flow into the checks or into the head ditches 
of the furrows. 

Where the banks are not liable to crumble and wash, 
openings to the checks and head ditches can be made di- 
rectly in them. To close, only a few shovelsful of earth 
are then necessary. Care in opening the bank so that the 
cut is only the width of the shovel is good, as one shovel 
can be placed to close the opening while another is used 
to fill in when shutting off the water. 

In loose, crumbling soils the use of gates into the parts 
to be irrigated will be required. Here, as with the head- 
gates, the choice of wood, concrete or cement is possible. 
The tappoon can be used to advantage here. 

In conclusion, emphasis must be placed on the point 
that whatever land is checked, the work should be well 
done. Better to do a little well than to do a whole lot 
badly, for poor work is sure to entail subsequent increased 
maintenance and handling expense. 

Drainage. — In close relationship to irrigation comes the 
matter of drainage. Much land which would otherwise 
be valuable suffers from a constant over-supply of mois- 
ture. This may be due to the fact that the field is low 
and consequently receives water from land higher up, 
faster than it can be disposed of, it may be due to exten- 
sive impervious hardpans, or it may be the result of over- 

59 



irrigation. In any case, permanent relief will consist in 
draining the land or removing the contributing causes. 

Drainage has a number of advantages which, in^ out- 
line, can be summed up as : 

(a) Removal of surplus water; 

(b) Increased available moisture; 

(c) Prevention of washing (to a certain extent) ; 

(d) Improvement of soil conditions ; 

(e) Production of early soils, better for plant growth 
and easier to till ; 

(f) Aeration of the soil. 

Several methods of drainage are possible but before 
deciding on what to use a study of the conditions which 
produce the excess of water is required. 

Often in irrigated sections excessive applications of 
water on high lying lands will result in a swamping of 
those on a lower level. For these a ditch or drain placed 
along the upper edge of the field to be protected will 
often prove an effectual protection. It will intercept the 
seepage and do away with the trouble if the ditch can be 
placed deep enough to reach the layers of soil which are 
carrying the water. If hard layers definitely determine 
the seepage the matter is an easy one to control. 

When the condition producing the trouble is not open 
to some such remedial measure as that just given, open 
ditches or tile drains placed in the field must be used to 
carry oflf the excess water, unless the cause is to be found 
in impenetrable hardpans which can be opened to permit 
the water to go through. How such drains shall be run 
depends on the topography of the country. Each case 
presents a problem in itself. Sometimes where the land is 
valuable and there is no cheap possible outlet, it will prove 
a good investment to construct a sump where the water 
can be collected from the drains, and then repumped onto 
higher levels for irrigation purposes. 

The discussion of laying tile drains is a subject in it- 
self. They offer the best final solution of almost any 
drainage problem. A discussion, however, of their con- 
struction and cost can best be found in literature relating 
directly to this subject. Beyond mentioning their possi- 
bility little can be given in a work of this scope. 

In discussing the relation of drainage to beet growth 

60 



two facts stand forth. One is the need of a deep soil for 
the plant's development. If water stands within less than 
4 feet of the surface drainage is well worth considering. 
The other fact is the use of drains to aid in alkali work 
and to supplement irrigation. 

Before undertaking the draining of a large tract the 
final character of the soil to be obtained should be care- 
fully looked into. The author has in mind a tract of 
several thousand acres which were fitted with open 
drains at a great expenditure, as the manager of the work 
believed he could produce good beet land out of it by 
simply draining ofif the excess w^ater. The result was a 
mass of adobe, sticky in winter, and flinty in summer. 
The "improvements" did not improve, for while the wa- 
ter was successfully removed, the resulting soil was ill 
adapted to beets. This fact could have been easily ascer- 
tained before the money was spent by consulting any 
farmer familiar with sugar beet culture. 

Drainage for good land will pay. Poor land, on the 
other hand, cannot be turned into good land simply by 
drainage, unless by "poor land'' is meant an excess of 
moisture, or alkali. 

As in many other problems of ranch w^ork, the deter- 
mination of a drainage system is very important. In a 
country of great extent, unless the conditions which pro- 
duce the swampiness can be proved to be local, a drain- 
age scheme is apt to be of considerable extent and involve 
many farmers. Therefore, before any work is done a 
careful inquiry into the cause, extent and remedy should 
be made. 

Practice of Irrigation. There is no general rule for 
irrigating sugar beets which will be applicable to all sec- 
tions, or even to all parts of the same section. Local 
conditions play a very important part and to a great ex- 
tent determine the irrigation. The time of planting, the 
amount and periods of rainfall, atmospheric tempera- 
cures, fogs, winds, previous irrigations, the character of 
the land, and the kind of beet desired are all influences 
which must be taken into account. In no particular sec- 
tion of great extent will any universal practice be equally 
good under all conditions. While the difference will not 
be as pronounced, perhaps, as between one section and 

61 



another, it will be great enough to require different meth- 
ods of irrigating different lots of beets. 

In irrigating a man must know his soil. Not only, is it 
absolutely necessary for him to be acquainted with its 
nature to the depth to which the plow goes but away on 
down to the depth to which the roots feed if he is to 
practice irrigation to the best possible advantage. This is 
more important with the sugar beet than with most crops 
because, for its best development it needs a deep soil and 
ample moisture. When the soil contains no impenetrable 
strata of clay, limestone, coarse gravel or dry soil the 
beet will go down deeply after water — 12 feet or more, 
so that with soils having the water table at 4 to 10 feet, 
the beet will finally reach this supply of moisture, a con- 
dition noticeable in the gradually quickened growth and 
freshening of the beets as they secure the moisture in 
quantity from this source. 

In order to know how much water the land will hold 
a study of the nature and extent of the layers of soil and 
the depth of the water table is absolutely necessary. Soil 
formations are not only apt to differ greatly from one 
section to a^nother, from one man's possessions to an- 
other's in the same section, but also on different fields 
farmed by one man. 

Close clay layers take water slowly and if the^^e lie 
near the surface of the ground the appHcation of large 
quantities of water will only result in saturating the soil 
to an extent too great for the best results. In fact, adobe 
subsoils, clay layers and cement hardpans are dangerous 
unless their existence and extent are understood by the 
irrigator. Such formations determine the amount of soil 
available for farming operations. Gravel layers are not 
as serious ; in fact if they exist at a considerable depth, 6 
or 7 feet or deeper, they are actually beneficial for they 
will then serve as drains for excess water. 

The location of the water table should be ascertained. 
If this is within 10 feet of the surface with no obstruct- 
ing layers between, the beets can secure water directly 
as they grow older. When they reach this water further 
irrigation is of no advantage. If, however, for any rea- 
son the plant roots cannot reach this ground water, timely 
irrigations must be given. In this connection it may be 

62 



well to state that the moisture which the plant can use is 
that which comes from the water table by capillarity — the 
plant does not go into the standing water and drink sim- 
ilarly to an animal. Capillarity is the same principle of 
physics applied to the upward movement of water in the 
soil, as that which causes the upward movement of oil 
in the wick of a lamp from the container to the flame. 
The height to which water can be raised by this means 
depends on the nature of the soil — heights of over 6 feet 
have been recorded. For ordinary beet soils, however, 
the average height is from 2 to 4 feet, depending on the 
layers which make up the soil. Clay soils will raise 
moisture much higher than sand soils. The final height 
which will be reached by the moisture is greatly influ- 
enced by intervening layers of sand or gravel. The mois- 
ture will pass from the finer to the coarser soils but the 
total height reached depends on the extent of each kind 
of soil and the height to which the moisture will rise in 
each independently. Eighteen inches of river sand will 
effectually shut off capillary rise. So will 2 inches of 
gravel the size of a pea. In actual practice the height 
to which the water will rise from the water-table is not 
very important. Knowledge of the depth to which the 
plant naturally goes and the possibility of encouraging it 
to reach this supply of moisture is sufficient. 

Every irrigator should post himself on the depth to 
which the irrigation water sinks, the danger of over-irri- 
gation and the possibilities of the water table as a supply 
of moisture. 

A couple of true examples will illustrate this. In a 
clay loam, with a few intervening sand layers, the wa- 
ter table was found to be at 8 feet in winter and 10 feet 
in summer. The plants grew to the water table. In this 
case it was found that one winter irrigation in an amount 
sufficient to unite the surface and soil moistures, in order 
uo guard against the formation of a dry layer through 
which the beet would not go, was sufficient. This made 
the required irrigation light as the rainfall of 14 inches 
falling during the time when the irrigation was given was 
almost sufficient to do this unaided. The combined rain- 
fall and irrigation started the beets and provided moisture 
for the greater part of the season, but the gradually de- 

63 



creasing amount forced tne beet to go deeper and deeper 
until finally it reached the supply coming from below 
which was more than ample to carry the cro^ to 
maturity. The failing supply in the upper layers pro- 
duced the right conditions for ripening the beets. The 
crops averaged 20 to 25 tons for fields of from 60 to 
100 acres and tested over 18 per cent sugar and 85 per 
cent purity. 

A second field of light sandy loam with a sand sub- 
soil at a depth of 4 feet, interspersed with clay layers, 
had the water table down as deep as 26 feet. A supply 
of water from the water table for the beets therefore, was 
out of the question, as the beets could not grow down 
deep enough to reach this water even though the soil 
was thoroughly moistened down by early irrigation. To 
produce beets in quantities great enough to be profitable, 
several irrigations were necessary, the aim being to keep 
the soil constantly moistened to a depth below 10 feet 
during the growing period of the beet with a withholding 
of the water for six weeks before harvest in order to 
produce a beet rich at maturity. The beets were planted 
in February, the land having been given a previous light 
irrigation for preparing the land. Combined with the 
natural rainfall (9 inches), the land had the proper mois- 
ture content to put it into shape and to start the crop. 
Two further irrigations were given, both crop applica- 
tions, one the first of May and the other the middle of 
June. The beets were harvested the first of August. 
That proper attention to the needs of the beets will pay 
shows in the yields. Twelve to 14 tons of beets were 
secured to the acre testing 20 per cent sugar and 90 
per cent purity. Yet this land could not be considered 
strong beet land. 

A third case which came to my attention was the diffi- 
culty one man had in getting his land into shape with 
the resulting poor yields of small-rooted beets with very 
large tops. Investigation showed promiscuous winter 
irrigation. Examination of the soil developed the fact 
that the water table was but 4 feet beneath the surface 
of the ground and amply able to supply all the moisture 
needed by the plants at any stage of their growth, except 
possibly for germinating the seed. The soil was not a 

64 



good beet soil, being heavy adobe, but after following 
out the recommendation to withhold all irrigation, the 
far better results which were obtained in ease of working, 
stand and yield were little short of astonishing. 

In each case cited flooding was the method employed, 
but the same would hold true with any method of irriga- 
tion. They show the need of determining the require- 
ments of each particular lot of land. No arbitrary rules 
can be laid down which will cover all conditions. Caution 
is urged against using an over-supply simply because it 
is available, or an under-supply because of scarcity. The 
time and amounts to apply will be determined entirely 
by local conditions which in turn will gauge the needs of 
the plant. How the plant signals its needs and the prop- 
er way of applying the remedy will be discussed a little 
further on. From this discussion I believe many of the 
points at present not fully understood, or at least not in- 
sisted upon emphatically enough, will be cleared up, and 
that the subject of proper irrigation will not have quite 
the mystifying aspect it now has in many sections. 

From the big mass of data which can be compiled re- 
garding the irrigation of sugar beets two facts stand out 
forcibly, and a correct understanding of both will be of 
material benefit to the grower of beets. One is the 
need of varying amounts of water from one period to 
another in the beets' development while the other is 
the ability of the plant to indicate a lack of water suf- 
ficient for its needs. 

The growth of the beet from germination to maturity 
can be divided into three periods as regards its moisture 
requirements. During germination only a moderate 
amount is needed. But as soon as the beets have grown 
six or eight leaves they can use enormous amounts of 
water, and at this time it seems almost impossible to 
drown them out. During the third period, when the beet 
is maturing and sus:ar is being stored up less moisture 
must be applied. This means that there are really two 
times when the water can be applied to the best advan- 
tage, before the crop is put in, and when the beets have 
from six leaves until six weeks before maturity. During 
either period water can be put on as often as it is needed. 
The plants themselves indicate a failing supply of mois- 

65 



ture by the appearance of the foliage and are themselves 
a good guide to go by with the possible exception that 
beets in too wet soils will sometimes show signs of .dis- 
tress similar to beets suffering from a lack of moisture. 
But by taking the foliage indications in connection with 
an investigation of the soil conditions as regards mois- 
ture content to a depth of 5 or 6 feet a true insight into 
the condition of things can be obtained. Once familiar 
with the action of the soil as regards moisture, the plant 
itself is a never failing indicator. When the growth be- 
gins to slacken a bit, when the light green, normal color 
changes to a glossy, varnished purplish or bluish green, 
and when the normal crisp texture gives way to a flab- 
biness which is not overcome during the night, then the 
beets need water, and need it quickly. If allowed to go 
beyond this stage they again turn light green, but rapidly 
assume a yellow, sickly shade while a dead and dying 
outer leaf shows here and there. 

The quick going back of beets once they show the need 
of water emphasizes the necessity of putting on the water 
as soon as the first signs of distress appear. Ten days to 
three weeks is sufficient time to check growth, depend- 
ing to a large extent, of course, on the nature of the soil 
and the climatic conditions in the regulation of the move- 
ment of the moisture. For this reason, where there is a 
large area to cover with water, an early start should be 
made in order to insure reaching all the beets before they 
pass the critical stage and begin to actually suffer. It is 
far better to start a bit early on beets which are not 
actually in need of water than to delay so long that the 
last beets to be irrigated are actually suffering. More- 
over when the character of the soil varies the aim should 
be to reach the poorer moisture-holding soils first. 

In hot, dry, windy weather the going back will be 
more rapid than during cool, calm, foggy spells. Beets 
in sandy land will not suffer as much as those in heavier 
soil once the moisture content lessens to the danger point, 
but this point will be reached much more quickly in the 
sandy land. 

Yellowing in spots on low land, which hold much wa- 
ter in winter, is brought about by the packing of the soil 
under the weight of the water, so that an environment is 

66 



produced unfavorable to beet growth and favorable to 
excessive evaporation. Taught to receive water close at 
hand during its early growth when the bulk of it is gone, 
the plant seems incapable of seeking further and actually 
suffers for want of it. Moreover, in those wet spots root 
rot plays considerable havoc. The same thing holds true 
with beets grown in land which has been badly tramped 
by working down when too wet on top or a few inches 
underneath. 

Beets which have gone until they are very yellow are 
beyond the stage where they will give the greatest re- 
turns from an application of water, but even then irri- 
gation will pay. The sugar content, brought up by dry 
conditions, tends to go down but if several weeks of 
warm, sunny weather follow this will be regained. 

The watering of beets drying and withering for lack 
of moisture will cause them to make a fresh start and 
make a satisfactory growth. While not wise to let mat- 
ters reach that stage, still, if it does happen water can 
be applied to advantage. (This applies to beets which 
are drying for lack of water. The condition must not 
be confused with approaching maturity. In the former 
case the beet root will be dry, tough, easily bent and 
springy. When the beet is maturing the beets will be 
brittle, juicy, and snap when bent). 

The action of water on maturing beets cannot always 
be foretold with accuracy. When there is quite a period 
oi summer weather to follow, hot, dry and sunny, little 
good as well as little harm will follow the application of 
water. But when a heavy watering is given and is then 
followed by cool, moist, or simply cool weather, the beet 
tends to stop the formation of sugar and to turn to the 
production of seed. In most cases the irrigating of ma- 
turing or matured beets is to be condemned. While a 
gain in weight follows it is usually nothing more than 
water taken up by the plant. The sugar drops not in 
actual amount, apparently, but in its proportion to the 
weight of the beet, so that while as much sugar is pres- 
ent it appears to be less when the weight of the root is 
taken into account. If good maturing weather follows 
the application of water the excess moisture will be evap- 
orated from the beet and soil, so that the sugar once 
more gains in proportion to the weight of the root. This 

67 



seems to be due to an actual lessening of the weight of 
the root as the water is given off, or to sufficient new 
formation of sugar taking place in the plant's leave?, so 
that the sugar is increased enough to equal the final slight 
gain in the root. But should moist, cool weather fol- 
low application during maturity, it will work havoc by 
inducing seed formation. As soon as second growth 
starts the sugar content is drawn upon by the plant, and 
constantly decreases as growth continues. Water applied 
to mature beets during the hot summer weather tends to 
preserve them and assists in loosening the ground so that 
plowing out is attended with much less difficulty than 
otherwise. The water, however, will not increase the 
tonnage to any appreciable extent and may induce the 
seed formation with its attendant detrimental aft'ect on 
the sugar content of the beet. 

The yellowing of beet foliage is often a topic of much 
discussion among beet farmers, each maintaining his own 
particular views on the subject. The truth is that yel- 
lowing may be due to several causes, as : 

(a) Too much moisture in the land in winter. 

(b) Preparing the land when too wet. 

(c) Maturity. 

(d) Low spots receiving much seepage. 

(e) Actual lack of moisture. 

(f) Later effect of root rot ravages. 

(g) Disease. 

By combining an investigation of the moisture condi- 
tions in the soil, an examination of the beets and taking 
into account their age, a pretty close estimate of the 
cause can be determined. Beets four months old or over 
are ready to mature and the yellowing then will be nor- 
mal. When the yellowing is abnormal the causes will 
show in the soil and in the beet. If on digging or boring 
down to the depth in which the plant is growing, the 
earth is found to be so dry that it cannot be molded in the 
hand or lacks the characteristic dark color imparted by 
water, if hardpans are encountered, or if an excess of 
standing water is present, then the presence of such 
undesirable conditions naturally will be the cause. 

From the preliminary study of the soil conditions much 
of the season's methods regarding the probable need of 

68 



water will be determined and the outline of the work 
can be quite definitely mapped out. Moreover, when the 
soil conditions are understood their influence on the 
plant's needs can be more closely watched and by this 
means larger and better crops can be produced at no 
greater expense. 

Too much or too little water will result in reduced 
crops. With too little water the beet fails to gather the 
necessary food elements for best growth and in conse- 
quence remains dwarfed. With too great an amount the 
beet runs more to foliage and less to root where condi- 
tions are otherwise favorable, while the danger of a still 
greater supply lies in the waterlogging of the soil by 
driving out the air from around the roots. Roots breathe 
and therefore need air as well as moisture. Never of 
their own accord do they enter soil saturated with water. 
When too great a quantity of water is given it forces out 
the air and results in ''killing" the soil. 

Of times in irrigated sections there will be an actual 
saving in the use of water. Where plenty is at hand the 
temptation to use it often and in large quantities proves 
too strong. Let the grower learn to read the needs of 
his crop, then, and then only will there be no further 
temptation in this respect. 

As to the amount of water to apply and the time to ap- 
ply it, a study of local conditions again will prove the 
best guide. In general from 24 to 36 inches of water 
is needed to produce a full crop of beets, and all this 
should come within six or eight weeks previous^ to the 
har.vest time. It may be stored in the soil during the 
winter and held by the usual methods of retaining crop 
moisture, or it may be put on at intervals. More than 
12 inches of water in flooding at any one time is to be 
advised against, either to the growing crop or to the fal- 
low soil. The amount at each time, however, must be 
varied to suit the conditions of soil and water supply. 
To provide the best conditions for the growth of the beet 
it is desirable to give the amount best suited to the plant's 
growth throughout the season, and to the depth within 
which the plant secures its food and water. Irrigations 
should in every case be suflicient to penetrate below the 
depth occupied by the plant, or to impervious layers if 
such exist. Where these are present the water must just 

69 



moisten to the layers so that there will be no danger of 
saturating the soil. If an excess be used the plant will 
suffer until enough evaporates to permit the entrance^of 
air into the soil, for neither air nor water should occupy 
the soil to the exclusion of the other — for longer than a 
very limited period at any rate. In open soils where the 
beet can go down almost unlimited distances the land 
should be thoroughly moistened to a depth of 8 or lo 
feet by each irrigation. 

The danger of oversaturating the soil is slight if an 
oversupply of water is put on lands with good drain- 
age, which take water readily. Under these conditions 
the excess water is simply lost. This means greater ex- 
pense in irrigating and also a leaching out of certain sol- 
uble plant foods. These plant foods are carried to depths 
beyond reach of the plant and lost. In clayey soils an 
excess of water will cause the beets to produce extensive 
foliage without a compensating amount of root. In other 
words the tonnage will be reduced. 

Excessive irrigations promote evaporation by packing 
the soil and in a very few weeks after the water is put on 
there will actually be less moisture present than in soil 
not over-irrigated. 

The size of the beet at the time the water is put on 
makes little difference. The larger the beet, the greater 
are its demands on the soil moisture and, consequently, the 
older the plant is the less leeway exists for delay in ap- 
plying the water when it is needed. But if the amount of 
moisture falls below the plant's requirements water must 
be supplied no matter what the age of the plant is. 

So many graduations occur of good, bad and indiffer- 
ent methods of applying water as regards the time and 
amount that a careful study of this point is well worth 
while on the part of every beet grower. The whole aim 
is to provide a constant supply of moisture in the soil 
during the growing period of the beet, avoiding an ex- 
cess on one side and a deficiency on the other with a 
diminishing amount as maturity approaches. Only by 
keeping the beet growing steadily from start to finish can 
the maximum returns be secured. 

In all irrigation work the final crop desired is the point 
to keep in mind. High sugar content and heavy tonnage 
are opposed to each other and the maximum of each will 

70 



not occur in the same beet. A happy medium must be 
obtained in order to produce a good sugar content in 
marketable beets, large enough to handle economically. 
If the tests are very high the weight will be low. On the 
other hand, when the tests of beets over four and one- 
half months old range low, a large overgrown beet will 
be found responsible. Find out which type of beet pays 
best to raise and then work accordingly. 

Use of Alkali Waters. There is danger in using alkali 
waters for irrigation purposes unless a preliminary 
knowledge of their nature and effect upon the ground is 
understood. 

Under the subject of alkali lands the nature of the dif- 
ferent salts comprising alkali was taken up. It is these 
same salts carried in solution which gives to strong, 
salty-tasting waters the name of ''alkali" waters. 

In judging the value or danger of alkali streams or 
waters the sense of taste cannot be relied upon as an 
accurate guide. A chemical analysis of the water in 
question is necessary. This will determine the nature 
and amounts of salts present. To put water strongly 
charged with alkali on good land is in most instances an 
unwise course. But there are exceptions to this rule and 
if the land is of the proper nature and a few precautions 
are observed in using the water no harmful results will 
follow. 

When the land is of a deep formation and takes water 
easily without waterlogging, or in other words if the wa- 
ter table is many feet from the surface (20 or more), 
and the soil itself is of a loose, open, more or less sandy 
nature, with layers of sand or gravel to provide good nat- 
ural drainage and no impervious layers of clay or hard- 
pan to hold the water back, then, and then only, may a 
grower consider the use of alkaline waters. By strongly 
alkaline I mean waters containing over forty grains per 
gallon of mineral content. If the land is heavy in nature, 
takes water but slowly, has a standing water table near 
the surface, has hard layers of clay or hardpan, or is in 
any way different from the broad conception given above, 
the land better not be irrigated with questionable waters. 

It is not easy to give hard and fast rules as to what 
constitutes a good and a poor water for the nature of 

71 



the salts plays a most important part. When they are of 
calcium or magnesia (the latter having an excess of cal- 
cium present with it) no objection can be offered, to 
the use of the water. When on the other hand the bulk 
of the solids are alkalies — carbonate of soda, sodium 
chloride, and the like, to an amount greater than forty 
grains to the gallon, precaution advises against their 
continual use. 

Should it become necessary to use saline water for 
temporary purposes, or as a general procedure under 
favorable conditions as given above, copious applications 
must be given, sufficient in fact to moisten the land to a 
depth of ID feet or more each time. Should the applica- 
tion be temporary fresh water should be turned on as 
soon as it can be secured in order to flush out the salts 
deposited the first time. To prevent accumulations in 
tlie surface soil, by continual use of saline waters, through 
evaporation, frequent and copious irrigations are neces- 
sary. These will carry off the excess salts in the natural 
drainage of the country. 

Any farmer can determine the value of his water for 
irrigation in a general way by evaporating a tablespoonful 
of the water in a clean, bright, silver spoon, using care 
to evaporate the water by steaming and not by boiling. 
The amount of residue will roughly determine the quan- 
tity of salts present in the water. Should there be but a 
thin film the water may be considered safe for use but 
should a definite crust remain it shows a high percentage 
of salts. If on the application of a little water these salts 
will redissolve it is fairly conclusive that they are alka- 
lies. If such be the case it will be necessary to exercise 
care in the use of the water, and a chemical analysis to 
determine the exact status of the water should be made. 

It is absolutely necessary in using alkali waters that 
they penetrate. Constant tests with a pointed steel probe 
several feet long, made of square steel one-fourth inch 
on a side and fitted with an adjustable cross-handle 
should be made. When the probe can be forced with 
ease into the ground, there the water has gone or will go 
if sufficient is used. By this method the presence of 
hardpans can be quickly determined. 

When the irrigation is done by means of furrows it is 
advisable to use deep furrows and to give large amounts 

72 



of water. Special care must be used to see that the water 
actually penetrates as deeply as it is supposed to go. As 
soon as the furrows dry out sufficiently to work after 
the irrigations they should be cultivated deeply and every 
attempt made to create and preserve a well fined mulch. 

Land laid down by alkali streams will often be found 
valuable for agricultural purposes provided it is laid 
down by running water and not where pools of water 
are standing. The salts being soluble are carried off by 
the stream while the soil, having been subjected to the 
leaching power of the water, is freed of the salts. Un- 
less other causes enter to recharge the land, little of an 
injurious nature will be left. 

TJic Soil Auger. In addition to the soil probe de- 
scribed in the preceding paragraph, every farm should 
have a soil auger for use in determining the character of 
the soil at different depths. This does more efficient 
work than a shovel. It is a labor saver in time, and will 
reach depths otherwise inaccessible. 

Two kinds of soil augers give satisfaction. The first 
is the King auger. This consists of a brass tube having 
an inside diameter of one inch. It is reenforced at the 
top with a collar so that blows can be struck to force 
the tool into the ground. The bottom is fitted with a 
bright tool-steel hollow point, tempered to a stone cut- 
ter's edge of 94-ii''- bore. A heavy core fits loosely in- 
side the tube, which, rimmed with a broad collar and 
topped with a handle, is used to drive the auger into the 
soil. The tube is driven down one foot at a time and the 
samples of soil can be taken out in sections and compared 
one with another. For use in dry soils and hardpans 
this is an especially fine instrument. 

A cheaper implement consists in welding an ordi- 
nary i^ or 2-inch carpenter's bit to the end of a five- 
foot ^ or ^-inch round iron rod. An adjustable han- 
dle is then added, somewhat similar to that of a posthole 
digger. To go to deeper depths other sections of rod 
can be made to screw on to the first one, being fitted with 
matched holes at the joining with a pin to go through so 
that in turning the rod the parts will neither unscrew 
nor tighten up so that they cannot be easily separated. 
In moist soil this will do excellent work. For dry soil it 
needs a piece of brass tubing fitted around the bit, after 

73 



grinding down all but the lower end so that the tube and 
bit do not exceed the original size of the bit. In very 
hard, dry soils the tool will not equal the King auger. Sy 
pouring a little water into such holes the work will often 
be greatly facilitated when the examination is simply to 
determine the character of the layers of soil, and not for 
the purpose of determining the moisture. 

( )ther types of augers are on the market. ]\Iost of 
them will do excellent work. 

Fertilizing the Sugar Beet. 

What the beet uses. — In order to arrive at the needs 
of the beet as regards plant foods an analysis of the 
different parts of the plant is given in pounds per hun- 
dred pounds of leaves, crowns and crownless roots. 

Phosphoric Total 

Nitrogen. Potash. Acid. Lime. Ash. 

Leaves 0.64 L09 0.114 0.41 4.30 

Crowns 0.43 0.45 0.120 0.05 1.35 

Crownless roots... 0.28 0.36 0.112 0.03 0.84 

This table shows several things, prominent among 
which is the small amount of ash (plant foods) removed 
from the land in the part sold to the mill. The leaves 
and crowns contain 87 per cent of the total substances 
taken up by the plant in feeding. 

Expressed in pounds of mineral matter removed, a 
crop of 36 tons (counting both tops and roots) will take 
out: 

Roots (20 tons) . Tops ( 16 tons) . Total. 

Potash 152 235 387 

Soda 24 199 223 

Lime 16 208 224 

Magnesia 24 172 196 

Phosphoric acid 86 80 116 

Nitrogen 60 113 173 

Other yields will withdraw plant foods in proportion 
to these amounts as they are greater or less than 36 tons 
in weight. 

Use of Commercial Fertilizers. — If $10 worth of fer- 
tilizer will increase the profits of the beet crop to a great- 
er extent, obviously it pays to fertilize. But if no actual 
gain in money follows the use of fertilizers the amount 
expended on them is only thrown away. 

At present there is no method by which the needs of 
the soil as regards fertilizers can be determined except 
by actually trying out the fertilizers in the field. Chemical 

74 



analyses or other laboratory methods fail at this point, 
but a trial in the field will give actual results. Each 
farmer must do this for himself on each particular type 
of soil represented on his farm. 

Soil is derived from rocks and its character will, there- 
fore, be largely determined by the nature of the rocks 
from which it was formed and by the agency which 
brought about the disintegration— rock weathering, wind, 
stream, volcano or glacier. A study of this question is 
a problem too deep for the average farmer as it involves 
time as well as a knowledge of geology, physics and 
chemistry. Moreover, the final results would be doubt- 
ful gams from a practical standpoint. In any soil the ele- 
ments which are apt to be found wanting are nitrogen, 
phosphoric acid, potash and lime, either singly or in 
combination. Which is needed, if anv, to increase the 
beet crop can best be determined by laying off plats 
in the beet field which will contain, when planted, twelve 
rows of beets 88 feet long. This is equal to one twenty- 
fifth of an acre when the rows are 20 inches apart. The 
plats should be placed side by side, the fertilizer sowed 
on each just before planting, and each plat carefully 
marked with corner stakes. 

The following plats should be run: Amount 

Per acre, Per plat, 

1 \T-* * r 1 ,, r , . pounds, pounds. 

1. In itrate of soda (before planting) 200 8 

2. Nitrate of soda (before summer irrigation, if 

one is given, or when the beets have eight 
leaves if dependence is placed on the natural 

q q"^'"?^^ 'u 200 8 

o. Superphosphate ^qq 12 

4. Sulphate of potash 200 8 

5. Nitrate of soda .. .. .200 8 

Superphosphate .300 12 

Sulphate of potash _ " " '200 8 

6. Nitrate of soda ..400 16 

Superphosphate .' qqq 24 " 

Sulphate of potash .' .' .'400 16 

7. No f ertihzer 

The plats must be prepared, planted and subsequently 
handled exactly alike. 

When the crop is ripe sections of a couple of rows 
about 200 feet each are dug or plowed up from dififer- 
ent parts of each plat and a total of 400 or more well- 

75 



preserved, unmutilated, representative beets are selected, 
topped carefully and weighed. 

On comparing the figures, if the total weight of* the 
beets in plat No. 5 is greater than in No. 7, it is evident 
that fertilizing paid. Then if No. i and No. 3 give 
greater returns than No. 7, while No. 4 is about the same, 
it is plain that the nitrate of soda and the superphosphate 
are what produced the increase, and are the ingredients 
needed. 

A comparison of No. 5 and No. 6 will broadly deter- 
mine the amounts needed, while No. i and No. 2 will 
show the best time for applying the nitrate of soda if 
this is to be used. 

This simple experiment will determine very closely 
the needs of the plants. 

But the increase in yield must be sufficient to more 
than offset the cost of the fertilizer, or at any rate to 
equal it. Suppose the fertilizer in No. 5 costs $10 and 
in No. 6 $20, and the yield of the plats, calculated to an 
acre (figuring 20,000 beets to the acre), is increased in 
No. 5 by 25 per cent over the normal yield in No. 7 and 
by 30 per cent in No. 6. Then if $5.50 per ton is re- 
ceived for the beets, and No. 7 goes 12 tons, we shall 
. have: 

No. 7 will yield 12 tons worth $66.00 

No. 5 will yield 15 tons worth 82.50 

No. 6 will yield 16 tons worth 88.00 

In round numbers the fertilizer would cost $10 in 
No. 5. It returned $16.50, consequently it paid. But 
the fertilizer in No. 6 cost $20 and thus only returned 
a profit of $2 over the expenditure. Hence we may con- 
clude that No. 5 is the best amount to use. 

Then, again, if the plats receiving a single kind of 
fertilizer show that the benefit was from only one or two 
then the useless ones can be omitted and the returns will 
be increased that much more. 

Lime may be tried by running an eighth plat or by 
putting a strip crosswise of the other seven so that all 
receive a lime application with the fertilizers. By de- 
termining the yields from the two parts of the plats sep- 
arately, the need of lime on the soil can be determined 
both as regards a plant food and as a means of bettering 
the mechanical condition of the soil. 

1^0 



The use of fertilizers will often pay where they are 
not at present beinor used. The author has increased the 
yields of new light loam soil from 8 to 13 tons per acre 
simply by an application of nitrate of soda put on before 
the first summer irrigation. The plants had nine or ten 
leaves at the time. Applied earlier it did not give as good 
results. This meant an increase in profits of $26 for an 
expenditure of $5. 

As to the forms of fertilizer to apply. When a com- 
plete fertilizer is needed probably nitrate of soda and 
tankage for the nitrogen, superphosphate for the phos- 
phoric acid, and sulphate of potash for the potash will 
fulfill all requirements. In general when the land re- 
quires potash it can be supplied in: (a) 75 lbs. of sul- 
phate of potash; (b) 75 lbs. of muriate of potash, or 
(c) 300 lbs. of Kainite. Of these the first one is best as 
the second has a tendency to make watery beets. 

If phosphoric acid is needed it can be obtained from: 
(a) 200 lbs. of acid phosphate; (b) 175 lbs. of dissolved 
bone, or (c) 250 lbs. of bone meal. <Df these, the first 
will usually prove to be the most desirable. Of the first 
two, one-half the quantity put on will become available 
the first year, and the other half the second. The third 
will become only slowly available the first year. 

These amounts are based on the usual content of 
commercial fertilizers. 

Green Manure Crops. — Green manure crops are 
crops grown on the land and turned under green for the 
purpose of improving soil conditions. With certain 
crops, such as alfalfa, it is sometimes possible to take off 
a crop or two, but the majority of them are turned under 
without harvesting any part. 

Green manure crops accomplish several objects. Their 
main use, however, is to replace humus and nitrogen in 
the soil. Two classes of green manure crops are recog- 
nized — one with nitrogen-gathering power, and the other 
without. Plants such as beans, peas, vetches, burr clover, 
horsebeans, velvet beans, cowpeas and clovers are nitro- 
gen-gatherers, that is they are able to gain their nitro- 
gen from sources other than the natural supply in the 
soil. It is gained by means of microscopic bacteria 
which develop in the knob-like excresences or nodules 
found on the roots of such plants. Plants which do not 

77 



have the capacity to gather their nitrogen by means of 
these bacteria are far less desirable green manure crops. 
Of course such nitrogen as they appropriate from tlTe 
soil is returned when the plant is plowed under, but 
there is no increase. For most purposes one of the plants 
possessing the nitrogen-gathering property — a legume 
in other words — should always be selected for green 
manure purposes. 

Most soils are abundantly supplied with the bacteria 
needed by the leguminous plant. Once in a while, how- 
ever, an exception occurs and it is then necessary to in- 
troduce the required form of bacteria. Whether or 
not bacteria are needed can be quickly told by examining 
the roots of the growing plants upon which they are 
desired. The plants should be carefully dug out — never 
pulled — and the clinging soil gently washed ofif in a 
stream of water. If on examination of the legume, which 
has been taken up so carefully that there was no chance 
of scraping off the nodules, none are found, it is a sign 
that the land needs bacteria. The small roots should be 
examined as well as the long main ones. 

Several ways are open for gaining the needed bacteria. 
The use of half a load of soil from fields where the 
plants show the nodules can be resorted to, or else a 
supply of the bacteria in bottles can be secured from the 
United States Department of Agriculture frcs of charge, 
with full directions for using. 

Nitrogen is one of the most necessary elements for 
plant growth and its gain can be figured in dollars and 
cents. 

Humus is partly decayed animal or vegetable matter. 
A green manure is not humus at the time it is turned 
under. Various agencies of decay and disintegration 
must work upon this mass of green stuff and break down 
its composition. When the process has reached the 
point where there is no resemblance to the original mate- 
rial it is humus. Continued beyond this point it becomes 
nothing but ashes. Humus is the black, earthy material 
without definite form which gives soils their dark tint 
on being moistened. 

Humus plays a very important part in soil fertility as 
it has the ability to keep the soil in a mellow, rich and 
spongy condition, thereby preventing crusting and crack- 



ing. It permits free circulation of air in the soil, gathers 
and retains all moisture which falls, binds loose sandy 
soils, and overcomes the close, retentiveness of clays. 
Finally, in breaking down, it liberates plant food. 

The value of a green manure crop depends on the 
amount of humus and nitrogen which can be obtained 
from it. This is based on the amount of green growth 
produced, found by weighing the crop, and by the plant's 
ability to collect nitrogen from the air, which is deter- 
mined by chemical analysis. For most practical purposes 
the legume yielding the most tonnage will prove the 
best manure crop. Just what plant to use will depend on 
local conditions, one plant doing better in some sections 
than others. For most localities the vetch, Canadian 
field pea or alfalfa will probably be found satisfactory. 

The following table gives an idea of the different yields 
and the value of the crop in dollars and cents, based on 
its nitrogen content. It means that if the nitrogen had 
to be purchased in the open market, in the form of am- 
monium nitrate, nitrate of soda, or the like, the cost 
would be in the neighborhood of the sum set opposite 
each crop. 

TABLE SHOWING THK VALUE OF CAREEN MANURE CROPS. 

Nitrogen Yield per acre Nitrogen Value 

100 lbs. in lbs. per acre, of Ni- 

green tops. Tops. Roots. Lbs. trogen. 

Common vetch .... 0.62 58,715 9,677 407.5 $81.50 

Hairy vetch 0.53 68,365 12,705 273.0 54.60 

Horsebean 0.48 37,812 17,545 244.2 48.84 

Burr clover 0.51 54,873 1,075 285.0 57.00 

Field pea 0.70 24,000 1,044 167.0 33.40 

Fenugreek 0.53 25,711 2,134 144.5 28.90 

Red clover 0.53 *15,000 .... 79.5 16.00 

Young alfalfa 0.72 *11,000 .... 79.2 16.00 

Crimson clover .... 0.43 *14,000 .... 60.2 12.00 

Cow pea 0.27 *18,000 .... 48.6 10.00 

White lupine 0.44 *25,000 .... 110.0 22.00 

Yellow lupine 0.51 *15,000 .... 76.5 16.00 

Orchrus pea 0.58 *75,000 .... 435.0 87.00 

Tangier pea 0.51 *40,000 .... 204.0 41.00 

Scarlet vetch 0.60 *50,000 .... 300.0 60.00 

Some of these were eastern grown and some western. 
The yields cannot be accepted as absolute because one 
crop will succeed better in one locality than another. 

*Tops and roots. 

79 



Only by experimenting with the different crops can 
definite figures be obtained. The nitrogen, too, will vary, 
although probably not enough to take into account. 

Green manuring ranks ahead of commercial fertilizing 
in importance. It will not, however, replace anything 
except nitrogen and humus. When potash and phos- 
phoric acid are lacking, they must be replaced by means 
of commercial fertilizers. 

Three possible ways present themselves for growing 
green manures for use in connection with the best crop. 
The first is to plant early in the fall or late in summer 
in order to gain enough growth in the fall and winter to 
permit plowing under in the spring sufficiently in advance 
of the beet crop that the mass of green stuff may be 
well rotted. A second way is to grow only as fall crops, 
plowing under before the winter storms set in. This is 
especially advisable under conditions existing in the East. 
The third method is to utilize the ground for one regular 
growing season, putting in the crop in the spring. The 
climatic conditions of each locality will determine the 
method. If there is a choice, either of the first two ways 
is preferable as no time is then lost from the reguiar 
crops and numerous green manure crops can be grown 
in the rotation. 

The greatest inconvenience met with in green manures 
will come at the time of plowing under the growth if it 
is very heavy and tall. Fall and winter growths will 
usually not be great enough to give trouble in this way. 
But by first dragging the stuff down and then plowing, or 
by Using a chain in front of the coulter the work will 
progress satisfactorily. The new style double-disk plow 
which has just been put on the market is especially well 
adapted to this work. The first disk cuts half the depth 
desired and turns it well under. The second disk cuts 
the rest of the furrow, turns it over and places it on top 
of the first. These plows will go down to a depth of 
i6 inches with ordinary horse power. Plowing under 
deeply is advised in order to put the green stuff down 
where it will do the most good and where it will receive 
the most moisture. 

In order to hasten decay plenty of water is necessary. 
Where irrigation facilities are available the water should 

80 



immediately be turned onto the land after the crop is 
put under. Then following the drying out of the soil 
after the irrigation a light harrowing should be given 
as soon as it can be put on the land. This should not go 
deep enough to bring the green stuff up. Warm, moist 
conditions will greatly assist decaying. 

When the water supply is limited, green manuring is 
something of a problem as it is unwise to turn a big mass 
of green stuff under if a drouth is liable to follow, as 
this stuff will keep the land open and may fail to rot in 
time to permit working the land for the next crop. Of 
course with a summer crop this is not such a difficult 
proposition. For use under such conditions a crop 
should be selected which has the greatest nitrogen-gath- 
ering capacity and at the same time makes a thick, fine- 
textured, fibrous growth. Vetch is a good example. 
Moreover, it may be well to consider the advisability of 
cutting the first crop for hay — providing a hay plant is 
chosen — then letting it continue its growth until enough 
more has formed to pay for turning under. Or, instead 
of cutting for hay, there is always the choice of pastur- 
ing the land until it is fed down to the required amount. 

Green manuring is a subject receiving much attention 
in the more arid sections, and is certainly a subject well 
worth all the time and thought spent upon it. 

Barnyard and Stable Manure. — Stable or barnyard 
manure must be applied with caution to the beet crop. 
On light, sandy soils little harm will result from applica- 
tions up to lo tons to the acre put directly on the land 
just previous to a beet crop. On beet soils naturally rich 
and heavy, the large applications of manure will result 
in a forcing of the growth so that a large, watery, dis- 
torted, ungainly beet is the result. Under such circum- 
stances the manure can be applied to the best advantage 
on the rotation crop. Placed on the land in the fall for 
spring beets the ill effects w^ill be much less but even 
then more than a very light dressing is apt to result in 
damage to the beets. 

Manure is very valuable when used in the proper 
manner but its effects on the beet crop will be enhanced 
if put on the year before. Based on analyses, the value 
of common manure is about $2.34 a ton for the plant 

81 



foods it contains at prevailing prices for the ingredients. 
This does not take into account the humus value of the 
manure and its beneficial action in improving the t^- 
ture of soils. In general, manure contains lo pounds of 
nitrogen, lo pounds of potash, and 6 pounds of phos- 
phoric acid. It is, therefore, rather weak in potash and 
phosphoric acid. When these elements are lacking in 
the soil, commercial fertilizers containing them must 
supplement the manure. The greatest gain comes from 
the nitrogen content and the humus value of the manure. 
These are sufficient to more than pay the cost of hauling 
it on to the land. When the manure must be purchased 
the price to be paid will depend largely on the need of 
the soil as regards the applications of humifying mate- 
rial. The value of the manure in this respect must be 
judged by the need of each particular soil and whether 
the manure will prove a cheap and more effective method 
than a green manure crop. The plant foods are worth 
over $2 a ton and a price equal to this may be paid before 
the humus value need be considered. 

The care and disposal of the manure when removed 
from the stables and yards determines to a large extent 
its value. Proper care at this stage will greatly enhance 
its value. The manure should either be protected at the 
barn or else spread right in the field when fresh. The 
latter way increases the efficiency of the manure and 
lessens the cost of handling. 

Mill Waste Water. — The use of mill waste water is 
very advantageous to the land as it carries all the im- 
purities contained in the beets. The analyses of mill 
waste water are variable, depending on what particular 
method of sugar extraction is predominating in the mill, 
on the distance from the mill where it is received, on 
what is dumped into it at the mill (i. e., press cake), and 
on the average composition of the beets going through 
the mill. In general, however, it is very rich in fertiliz- 
ing elements. Two typical analyses showed a variation 
of from 2,584 to 3,088 solid parts per million of water. 
Of this 50 per cent was sludges and organic matter and 
about 20 per cent was lime. The high percentage of 
sludges and organic matter shows the extremely high 
fertilizing value of the water. In 12 inches of irrigation 

82 



of potash, 3 pounds of nitrogen, and over loo pounds 
of other salts. 

Calcium carbonate is soluble only to a very slight ex- 
tent in water, and its action will, therefore, be slow in 
most soils. Hence, the danger of burning out the humus 
of soils by the use of even large quantities of mill lime 
is practically nil. I have used it at the rate of 200 tons 
(86 tons actual calcium oxide) and produced no apparent 
ill effects in the soil. The crop produced was slightly in 
excess of that on the unlimed land. Lime is beneficial 
in an indirect way. more than as a direct plant food. 
When any of the following conditions exist, to the extent 
of requiring a corrective, the application of some form 
of lime is certain to prove profitable. 

(a) Lime is a splendid correcter of the poor physical 
condition of soils. With loose, sandy, blowy soils it 
binds the coarse sand grains together; with heavy, im- 
pervious soils it holds the clay particles apart. In each 
case it enhances the chances of storing and retaining 
moisture and makes both soils much easier to work. Im- 
plements are much easier to direct and the land breaks 
up much more readily. Crusting and cracking is never 
as great on limed soils as on unlimed soils of the same 
nature. 

(b) Lime neutralizes the acids of the soil which when 
present makes them, ''sour" so that many plants fail to 
make a good growth in them. 

(c) It prevents the formation of the more insoluble 
cornpounds of phosphoric acid with alumina and iron, 
taking up the phosphoric acid to itself, thus putting it into 
a form more available to the plant. With the various 
potash salts it sets potash free, so that it is much more 
ready for the use of the crop. In other words it changes 
the unavailable or only slightly available forms into 
forms immediately useful to the plant. 

(d) Compounds of iron and other substances of a 
possible injurious nature are rendered harmless. 

(e) The spread of certain rots is retarded by the 
lime. 

(f) By producing conditions better suited to rapid 
decay lime hastens the decomposition of vegetable mat- 
ter, first into humus, and later humus into plant foods. 
One of the attendant results is the production of nitrogen 

83 



r, a ttoial oi Jfioo pomids of solid matler is pot 
OD die land of wincii about: 1^400 is Eokl 

The Imie is pfoboblr Gondiiiied with certaiii of d|^ 
organic bo&s so diat it does not actiTdhr attack tlie 
scAf bcii^ neutralized to a gicat extent fay tiie acid of 
tihe beets. Onlj a few ports of carbonate or^iTdioside 
forms of fime aie present. This -means ^Sbtat the faearr 
limii^ wfncfa lands adjacent to the n^ reoerre. is mk 
detiimeirial^ and snstead of the lime actn^ as an active 
^ent in ransJBg^ the natural plam foods siorcd in :2:e 
soil to beoome availabJe, the great fertQitir oonies fnin 
the material in tbe water wbidi is pot on. 

The heavy crops cf '^^.-^.-- — rts off sucfa lands, eren 
after haag grown : : r 1 ' : f consecittiTe years, is 

evidence of tibe The author has in 

mind a fidd of 7 = in beets every year 

for the paste T i it has averaged 23 

and 25 tons -— ^ idiers can 

call to miiftd is may Iw 

an exceptHXL ; "^jation. 

the kind wt ,reatiy 

benefited bv ' 

Mm Wasz — -ma w^ 

limed soiLT 15 onions, 

^nadu lett: it^ ^? ^p- 

^es» pcarSy ; "d 

crops die d»: - -e 

hiBc ... 

'Dse, whedier k :n the 

- - tt or carted : - - t 1 f 

'D^ive 1 _r. 




50 that lime indirectly gains nitrogen for the plant. This 
characteristic is especially valuable on heavy soils or 
when green manure crops are turned under. 

The use of lime on many soils is a necessity, and the 
value of a supply of sugar mill lime is great for not onlv 
is the necessar>- liming ettect secured but much valuable 
plant food is put on with the lime. 

Crop Rotation.— As the land becomes less and less 
productive, new methods must be taken up to stop the 
decrease and gradually rebuild the soil up to its former 
state of productiveness. The reduced yields are usually 
the result of constantly growing one crop, such as corn, 
wheat, oats or the like. Whether the reason for the 
lesser yields is due to the actual reduction of the plant 
foods in the soil, the removal of these foods faster than 
they become available, to the presence of microscopic 
parasitic plants in the soil, or to the actual giving off of 
poisonous substances by the plants themselves is of little 
importance to the farmer. He wants to get the yields 
and knowledge of the methods which will produce those 
yields. Scientific information is necessary, but the busy 
farmer has no time to delve as deeply into the studv of 
the causes as a proper investigation entails. 

The use of commercial fertilizers, summer fallowing 
and crop rotation have been tried out and found to oflfer 
the desired solution. Of these methods, crop rotation — 
the growing of alternating crops — has been found of 
greatest importance. On strong land, rotation will hold 
ott the day when fertilizers must be applied for a num- 
ber of years, the length depending upon the crop grown, 
the time the land has been under cultivation, and the 
natural strength of the soil in the first place. Rotation 
without fertilization is away ahead of fertilization with- 
out rotation. This is especially true when the practice 
of green manuring is introduced in the rotation. Of 
course, neither rotation nor green manuring will replace 
phosphoric acid or potash when there is a notable de- 
ficiency of these, but when the supply is fair, rotation 
and green manuring will greatly prolong the period for 
receiving the greatest good from whatever is present. 

That the sugar beet holds a high place in crop rotation 
is now a matter of record. The old-time preju- 

85 



dice against it is giving away as the observing farmers 
note the great increase of crops which follow the beet 
crop. American farmers, in their headlong rush ^to 
plant, cultivate, harvest and market, have neglected their 
bookkeeping, and it is difficult to give definite figures 
which show just what the effect is on crops following 
beets. A few examples selected at random show an in- 
crease of crops following the beets over the yield secured 
on land not in beets as follows : Oats, 80 per cent ; bar- 
ley, 73 per cent ; hay, 66 per cent ; wheat, 80 per cent ; 
barley, 57 per cent ; wheat, 75 per cent. 

German figures carefully compiled from an average 
of thirty-five farms show a very remarkable increase : . 
Before After 
beet beet Increase, 

culture, culture. lbs. Per cent. 

Wheat 1,848 2,292 444 24 

Rye 1,456 1,672 216 15 

Barley 1,672 2,094 422 25 

Oats 1,355 1,918 563 42 

Peas 985 1,834 849 86 

Potatoes 6,716 13,500 6,874 102 

How the Beet Benefits the Soil. — It would be surpris- 
ing if good yields were not secured after the beet crop. 
The thorough preparation of the soil for the beets and 
the subsequent excellent care given it are reflected in 
the better physical condition of the soil and the Mip- 
pression of the weeds. Both of these benefits extend 
over to the next crop. 

The beet is a deep-rooting plant and brings up plant 
foods from the stores deep down in the soil, and through 
the rotting of the tops places these in the surface soi^ 
within reach of shallow-rooted crops. They are also in 
a form more available for the plants — predigested, so to 
speak. 

The rootlets of the beet, in decaying, form first humus 
and then plant food. They also leave little channels run- 
ning several feet into the ground, thus permitting drain- 
age and aeriation to a far greater extent than is other- 
wise possible. Roots of future crops will follow these 
passages and thereby secure more moisture and reach 
greater stores of plant food. It has been estimated that 
one ton of humus is put down into the soil by these root- 
lets. And it is put deeply, where it will do the most good. 

86 





l.AKLKY HAY AFTER BE'ETS. n.5 TONS PER ACRE 
^_ PEAS FOLLOWING BEETS ^^^i-- 
OAT HAY AFTER BEETS, 3.5 TONS PER ACRE 

87 



The land is plowed deeper than usual by five to eight 
inches and just so much more land becomes available for 
future crops. Most crops derive their nutriment ftom 
within the space prepared by the plow. Moreover, in the 
usual work the plowings are repeated to one depth. This 
results in the formation of a plow pan which the deep 
plowing for the beets breaks up. 

When the beets are plowed out the land is given a 
deep subsoiling. 

There is nothing miraculous or difficult to understand 
about this. The benefits are positive and easy to trace. 
The source of income from the sugar beet is by no means 
the total benefit derived. The beneficial effect on the 
soil can be seen in following crops, often until the third 
year after. The soft, mellow condition of the soil, the 
freedom from weeds, and the actual increase in the size 
and yield of the subsequent crops, point out the beneficial 
action of the beet. In short, the beet offers wide oppor- 
tunity for the systematic and economic rotation of crops. 

To the farmer who is not already raising beets a trial 
will convince him of the truth of these remarks. Fifty 
acres, or, if that- is too much, twenty-five, or ten, or even 
five put into beets will quickly furnish proof if the plow- 
ing, seeding and cultivating is done right. Another year, 
when the old stand-bys are planted on this place — grain, 
potatoes, corn, alfalfa, or whatever the main crop is — the 
greater yield and greater ease in handling the land will 
prove an agreeable surprise. Incidentally and probably 
more important, the life of the land will be prolonged, 
thereby indicating the possibility of securing a guarantee 
of lifelong returns, not only to the grower, but to his 
children. 

Planning the Rotation. — To obtain the greatest returns 
from the land a definite rotation of crops should be 
planned. This should be mapped out in accordance with 
the crop which constitutes the main source of income. 
For all farms near a sugar mill which have the right 
kind of soil, the sugar beet will eventually prove the 
principal crop. Rotations should, therefore, be planned 
with reference to this crop. The one which will return 
the greatest yield of beets is the one which will be pre- 
ferred. Such a scheme will prove that the land is being 
kept up in the best possible shape. 

88 



In general, it has been found that the sugar beet will 
follow potatoes, beans, peas or beets to good advantage, 
while it does remarkably well after alfalfa. 

On the other hand, barley, wheat, oats and flax will 
follow the beet crop to advantage. Corn does not start 
off quite as well, but eventually it proves fully equal to 
that grown elsewhere. 

In most regions the rotation of beets, grain and po- 
tatoes is generally followed. Corn is sometimes used in 
place of the grain, and beans instead of the potatoes. 

Any rotation which leaves the land mellow, full of 
humus, and free from weeds and stubble is a good one. 
Preferably beets should not follow alfalfa or corn, as the 
roots and stubble prove very vexatious because of their 
tendency to clod up and drag the implement teeth. In 
cultivating young beets many are apt to be destroyed by 
this stuff clinging to the cultivator and being dragged 
along the row unnoticed. 

As a rule, crops requiring deep plowing should follow 
beets, while those not needing it, or at least not so par- 
ticular in this respect, should precede them. 

On most ranches and farms the present scheme of more 
or less haphazard rotation can, with profit, be brought 
down to a systematic basis. Having determined the 
crops which it is possible to grow at a profit on the land 
in question, a scheme can be evolved which will cover 
both the ranch and soil needs. Let us, for example, fig- 
ure on a farm which has 640 acres of good tillable land, 
suitable for alfalfa, beets, peas, beans, potatoes and grain. 
Such soils are common in the sugar beet districts, as a 
soil which will raise anyone of the first five will usually 
raise the others. In order to make the farm self-sustain- 
ing, all the hay and grain needed for feeding must be 
produced at home. Moreover, the use of some green 
manure or leguminous crop must be included to renovate 
the soil— a matter taken up at some length under ''Green 
Manuring." For most districts, alfalfa, beans and peas 
will fulfill all the requirements of the soil as regards 
nitrogen-gathering. When the soil is deficient in humus, 
or where the humus burns out rapidly, provision must 
be made for returning it to the soil. This can be ac- 
complished most easily and quickly by sowing with the 

89 



grain crop some form of a green manure crop which can 
be left to make its growth after the grain is off and then 
plowed under. Or, if ample water is available from rain- 
fall or irrigation, after the grain is off, the land can be 
moistened and then prepared for the reception of the 
green manure crop. With the warm weather present in 
the summer time the crop will make a quick growth and 
will be ready for plowing under in the fall in time to 
permit it to rot during the winter. In the rotation which 
we will consider, clover can take the place of alfalfa, 
peas the place of beans, and oats, wheat or barley can 
constitute the grain. 

After selecting the crops, which we will consider to be 
alfalfa, barley, beets and potatoes, the next step will be 
the planning of the order in which these crops are to be 
raised. In the majority of cases it will be found better 
to leave the alfalfa in for two years. By this method 
some hay can be obtained the first year, and considerable 
the second. The last crop should be left and plowed 
under. By this means humus is replaced in the soil. 
Alfalfa is lending itself as a most desirable, crop for sugar 
beet districts, as the crops of beets which follow it are 
record-breakers. Moreover, alfalfa does especially well 
on land treated with the mill waste line, carried on either 
in the water or by carting out and spreading by hand. In 
order to facilitate the killing of alfalfa before putting in 
the beet crop — something which can be done with com- 
parative ease, as the alfalfa will not be old enough to pos- 
sess roots of the size and toughness of old alfalfa fields — 
potatoes or beans should follow the alfalfa. Potatoes do 
very well on this land and, as they do not tax the soil, they 
leave it in excellent shape for the beet crop. As they are 
planted in wide rows, the frequent and thorough cultiva- 
tion which they require can be easily done and will at the 
same time kill the alfalfa shoots which may come up. 
Beets can follow the alfalfa, but more or less trouble will 
be experienced in cultivating. If, however, the method for 
killing the alfalfa, as outlined under ''Preparation of the 
Soil for Irrigation," is followed, beets may follow the 
alfalfa with comparative ease. Following the potatoes 
comes the beet crop for one or two years. Grain follows 
the beets, part being cut for hay and part for grain. 

When commercial fertilizers are required, they will go 

90 



on the crop which needs them most. The manure, when 
used, will go on the land to be in potatoes or beets, being 
put on the previous fall, or on the grain crop. 

Our rotation for each field will, therefore, consist of : 

First year beets 

Second .year beets 

Third year grain 

Fourth year alfalfa 

Fifth year alfalfa 

Sixth year potatoes 

Several fields should be devoted to the rotation, and 
to follow out the scheme to the best advantage 
the ranch should be divided into fields as nearly of 
the same size as possible. The ideal condition is level, 
uniform land under irrigation. But as this happy ideal 
is seldom met with, each farmer must do the best he can 
with what he has. This scheme would call for six fields. 
The ranch would therefore be divided into six parts. Each 
part or field would then receive the treatment according 
to the scheme, each field starting in at a different point 
of the rotation the first year ; that is, field No. i would 
have beets the first year, beets the second year and so on 
down the list. But field No. 2 would omit the first year's 
beets, starting in with second year and then continue. 
Field No. 3 would start in with the third year's crop — 
grain — and then continue, and so on until all the fields 
were accounted for. Summed up, it would give : 

4th Year. 5th Year. 6th Year. 

alfalfa 

alfalfa 

potatoes 

beets 

beets 

grain 

By this means one-third of the ranch is in beets each 
year, one-sixth in barley or other grain, one-sixth in one- 
year alfalfa, one-sixth in second year alfalfa and one- 
sixth in potatoes. Congestion of work is prevented and 
provision is made for the principal crop to be beets, while 
the land is left in good shape for the succeeding crop. 

This example is simply a rough guide to indicate the 
scheme of figuring out rotations. It considers only one- 
sixth the land in grain. If more is wanted, some varia- 

91 



Field. 


1st Year. 


2d Year. 


3d Year. 


1 .... 


. .beets 


beets 


grain 


2 .... 


.beets 


gram 


alfalfa 


3 .... 


.grain 


alfalfa 


alfalfa 


4 .... 


.alfalfa 


alfalfa 


potatoes 


5 .... 


.alfalfa 


potatoes 


beets 


6 .... 


.potatoes 


beets 


beets 



alfalfa 


potatoes 


potatoes 


beets 


beets 


beets 


beets 


grain 


grain 


alfalfa 


alfalfa 


alfalfa 



tion will be required from the plan given above. In such 
a case a rotation might prove feasible consisting of : 

First year beets , 

Second year grain, followed by green manure crop 

Third year potatoes 

Fourth year beans 

In planning the rotations, those fields* which are to 
have the same crops at the start should be brought to- 
gether to facilitate handling. 

By adopting a system making the sugar beet the major 
crop and regulating the crops which are to follow, the 
producing capacity of any farm can be held at the maxi- 
mum, while the danger of congesting the work at some 
one time of the year will be effectually done away with. 

Sugar Beets in Orchards. The three principles of suc- 
cessful orcharding are pruning, cultivation and fertiliza- 
tion. To this must be added spraying, when insect or 
fungus foes are troublesome. 

The questions of pruning and fertilizing have been 
given much attention and methods have been evolved 
which amply cover most conditions. 

The main question is one of cultivation and this is a 
very important subject. For the proper growth of the 
tree, careful handling of the land is absolutely necessary. 
Pick up any authority on orcharding, and invariably he 
will advise deep, thorough plowing, preferably for one, 
two or three years before the trees are set out. After the 
trees are in, the order of the day is rather deep plowing 
and cultivation just as soon as the trees have been set. 

Thorough breaking up of the land accomplishes four 
things. It makes plant food available, it preserves the 
loss of moisture through evaporation, it holds the weeds 
in check and it permits air to circulate in the soil. Any- 
thing that will produce a condition of perfect tilth with 
no drain on the trees is to be recommended. Alfalfa, 
clover or grain have been suggested for use in the or- 
chard but they are not desirable. The difficulty in keeping 
the crop where it belongs, and the impracticability of giv- 
ing them proper attention while growing are factors 
against their general use, to say nothing of the large 
amount of plant foods removed by them. 

One of the finest crops for use in orchards is the sugar 
beet. Four rows among old trees and eight rows between 

92 




SUGAR BEETS IN ORCHARDS. 
93 



the rows of young trees not over three years old will ac- 
complish wonders. In the first place the land is deeply 
plowed for the beets, lo to i6 inches, and the thorough 
handling required by them is reflected in the trees. Then 
careful hoeing and cultivating throughout the season is 
a direct benefit to the trees. The moisture is preserved 
by the maintenance of a surface mulch. As the beets 
grow they shade the ground and prevent evaporation. The 
consequent result of such treatment is to cause the roots 
of the fruit trees to go deeper, the land is left in much 
better shape, and the tiny rootlets of the beets help to 
break up the deeper layers of soil. When the beets are 
dug these small roots return humus to the soil while the 
tops return not only humus but a large amount of avail- 
able plant food. 

And finally when the crop is harvested there is the 
possibility of a snug return from the sale of the beets. 

Only one possible objection can be raised to sugar 
beets in orchards and that is the question of a moisture 
supply. Both the beets and fruit trees are heavy drawers 
of water, and to mature both to advantage an ample sup- 
ply of moisture must always be at hand, with the excep- 
tion of the ripening period in the fall. 

Watsonville, a great apple growing district of Califor- 
nia regularly practices this method, and finds the sugar 
beet a valuable adjunct even in full bearing orchards. 

Mechanical Labor Savers. No effort should be spared 
to utilize all mechanical contrivances possible, such as 
blockers in connection with thinning, toppers, elevators 
and diggers — all of which are described from time to 
time in the agricultural papers, sugar journals, govern- 
ment and state publications. 

Elevators and mechanical toppers are beyond the reach 
of the small farmer, but there are many ino-enious little 
devices he can use. such as hooks for use on seeders or 
heavy land to pull the seeder down into the ground, crust 
breakers, and cultivator appliances. 

The selection of proper wagons is important. While 
these must conform to the unloadino- platforms it is well 
to get away from nets and use, as far as possible, i^elf- 
dumping wagons. 

All beet tools should be heavy, well constructed and ser- 
viceable. Care both in first selection and in subsequent 

94 - 



protection of implements is well worth the taking. Leav- 
ing tools out in all kinds of weather is a very bad policy. 
Not only do stiff, rusty tools create a larger draft for the 
stock but their life is shortened 50 per cent. A decent tool 
shed will soon pay for itself. 

The Factory Agriculturist. The factory agriculturist 
is paid by the management to produce the beets. As far 
as possible his training, previous record, capacity for 
work and capabilities are looked into before he is em- 
ployed. 

Because of the fact that he is well fitted to handle the 
difficult questions of plant growth, the grower should get 
in close touch with him. If the agriculturist is a new 
man, unfamiliar with the local conditions he will be only 
too glad to accept the statements of men fitted by long 
residence and successful experience, as to the methods 
which have produced the best results. Later, after be- 
coming acquainted with local conditions, he may be able 
to introduce improvements over the old way which will 
result to the mutual advantage of all concerned. 

The interests of the agriculturist and of the grower 
are one — the production of the beets. To be thoroughly 
successful each must recognize the viewpoint of the oth- 
er. The agriculturist can help the grower to a great ex- 
tent, especially in suggesting remedies for unfavorable 
conditions, such as the gradually lessened production 
brought about by over or under-irrigation, alkalies, seep- 
age water, improper rotations, lack of plant foods, insect 
and fungous pests, and so forth. The choice of the seed 
to plant properly comes under his jurisdiction. In short 
the training of the agriculturist along the lines of soil 
physics, plant pathology and plant physiology fit him to 
properly solve the problems incident to plant growth. 

The true agriculturist is growing beets, not for this 
year alone, nor for next year, but for many years to 
come. The million-dollar investment, more or less, that a 
sugar mill represents, cannot be made a paying invest- 
ment in a single season or in two seasons. Only after 
long years of bountiful harvests can the investment be 
considered a success. And the agriculturists's duty is to 
bring this about as far as possible. His suggestions, 
therefore, are based on the future, rather than on the 

95 



present. Too often losing sight of this point of view, 
the grower blames the agriculturist for adopting policies 
which may not wholly favor the grower. This point 
should not be overlooked in judging the agriculturist's 
actions. 

Therefore, every grower should feel free to use the ser- 
vices and experiences of the agriculturist for by so doing 
the interests of both will be furthered to a great extent. 

Sugar Beet Culture in the Salt River ]^ alley. 

The soil conditions in Arizona are such that no land 
that has not previously been in cultivation should be se- 
lected for sugar beet culture. The land that has proved 
to be best suited to this crop is the loose, soft land that at 
some time previous has been cultivated to alfalfa. The 
soil in general is not impregnated with sufficient humus 
unless alfalfa has been grown or material of a humus 
nature plowed into it. There are sediment soils in the 
lowlands along the rivers or irrigation ditches that grow 
excellent sugar beets, but it is advisable to select an old 
alfalfa field for growing the crop. 

Experiments have been carried on in all different soils 
in the valley, and according to the topographical map of 
the government, the Glendale Loess and the Maricope 
sandy loams have by far demonstrated their adaptability 
over all other classes of soils. This land is found in the 
vicinity of Glendale, Kyrene, Mesa and the Buckeye 
country. It can be readily distinguished from the unde- 
sirable adobe and sandy soils. 

The planting season extends from the first of Novem- 
ber to the middle of February. Continued experience has 
shown that the land should be plowed early and allowed 
to lay fallow for a month or more before preparation. 
The land should be plowed 8 to lo inches in depth and if 
the beets are continued on the land for a period of three 
or four years, which is possible and also advisable in this 
valley, the second or third year a deep tilling machine 
should be used, plowing the land .from 14 to 16 inches 
deep. 

About two or three weeks before planting the land 
should be well levelled, borders thrown up and flooded 
evenly. Care should be taken not to keep the water on 

96 



the land too long or to allow it to back up at the head or 
waste ditches. When dry enough to work, the borders 
should be split and levelled down and the field worked 
up with any of the approved cultivators. Discing or 
spring-toothing does not give the good results obtained 
in some other places. The land^ permits working quite 
wet and forms an excellent seed bed by using the harrow 
and ordinary board float. The practice is in all cases to 
work the land with the tools referred to frequently 
enough to bring it into garden shape on the surface. 

Planting is done with the regular beet drills, in rows i8 
inches apart. The climatic conditions are such that most 
excellent stands are procured from any of the standard 
seeds. 

Cultivation should begin as soon as the beets can be 
Hscerned plainly in the rows. In most cases the field 
::'ould be well' rolled before the cultivation begins. 
>:Cnives, discs or spiders should be the cultivator equip- 
^iient for the first cultivation. All later cultivations should 
je given with the chisels and duck feet. The standard 
makes of 4-row cultivators have proved the best in all 



:ases. 



After the first cultivation the beets should be thmned, 
leaving a single beet every 8 to 10 inches in the row. 
Labor^for this work is very easily procured in the valley, 
the charges being from $4.50 to $5 per acre. Very little 
hoeing is necessary if the thinning is well done and the 
expense therefore is materially lessened, as after the thin- 
ning the cultivator if properly adjusted, will keep the 
field clean of grass and weeds until laid by. 

After the first flooding irrigation for the preparation of 
the seed bed, only two irrigations are necessary. The 
first of these two irrigations is given in the latter part of 
March and the other in May or June, according to the 
time the field is to be harvested. The cross-field irriga- 
tion ditches should not be farther than 40 rods apan, 
and in the irrigation of the rows, every row should be 
well furrowed out and the water conducted so that as 
little flooding as possible is done. Flooding is a bad 
feature as the ground bakes around the plants and also 
endangers scalding-. 

The harvesting and delivery of the beets starts in May 

97 



and June and continues until August. On account of the 
temperature this must be a very rapid operation. As 
before stated there is ample labor available, and for top- 
ping, piling and loading into wagons the charge is from 
$7 to $9 per acre. 

The yield on good land will run as high as 2"] tons per 
acre, and the harvest is over in plenty of time to plant a 
crop of cowpeas, sorghum or milo maize on the same 
piece of ground after the beets are removed, therebv giv- 
ing the man who is willing to work the opportunity of 
producing two crops on the same piece of land the same 
year. 

Conclusion to Cultural Work. In general, the aver- 
ages of tonnage and quality of sugar beet production are 
tar below what they should be. Examples of high yields 
in every section indicate the possibility of raising the 
average far above of what it is. In 1910 the average 
for the whole United States was 9.73 tons per acre. This 
means that the profit is not as great as it should be. In 
fact, cost of production and receipts are not very far re- 
moved. The beet crop requires proper handling and care 
to do its best and is by all means a crop for intensive 
farming. Certain rules have been worked out which 
will aid the grower in producing his crop, but only by 
unceasing study of local methods can the greatest ulti- 
mate profits be secured from his land. It is not always 
possible for every man to attain the highest yields of 
any section, because of the difference in his land or be- 
cause of unfavorable location, but it is a fact that with 
the majority of farmers more knowledge concerning the 
crop's needs and greater attention to the details which 
will result in fulfilling those needs will bring about in- 
creased profits. 

Sugar beet growing demands that the work be done on 
time. Planting, cultivation, thinning, irrigating and har- 
vesting cannot be delayed without detriment to the crop. 
But on the other hand no crop responds more freely or 
promptly, or manifests its appreciation of proper atten- 
tion more quickly, than does the sugar beet. 

Further development of the beet sugar industry will 
doubtless result in a greater tonnage and higher sugar 
content and purity, but much of this must be brought 

98 



about by the appreciation and practice of better farming 
methods on the part of the grower. The aim should be 
to make the land pay increased profits rather than to look 
to the mill for a higher price. At the present time the 
farmer receives for a ton of beets nearly one-half the 
market value of the sugar in those beets. The other half 
must pay operating expenses, interest on money invested, 
risks, depreciation of mill and the profit. Unless the 
market price of sugar goes up, the chances of the farmer 
receiving more money from the mill is doubtful in most 
sections. But an improvement, however, can well be 
looked for in the soil of his fields. 

Throughout this discussion of the culture of the sugar 
beet, I believe the fact which stands out most prominently 
is the need for every farmer to knoiv his soil. Only by 
a study of each field by itself can the proper principles of 
crop handling be worked out. This can easily be done by 
each individual farmer and in the determination of the 
character of his soil will come the solution of most of the 
cultural problems. The greatest factor in this study is a 
good preparatory course in common sense. 

Should work spring up in this study which is beyond 
the scope of the farmer — such as alkali determinations — 
the State Experiment Stations and the United States 
Department of Agriculture stand ready to help. As the 
farmer pays his share of the taxes to support these insti- 
tutions he is entitled to his share of their work. 



99 



CHAPTER II. 



Feeding By-products. 

Pulp. Beet pulp is the beet slices after the sugar Jias 
been extracted, and these constitute in weight about 85 
per cent of the total beets worked. These cuttings are 
run out into a big silo or else shipped fresh. As cattle 
feed the pulp is very valuable. Even to this day there 
are many sections which do not fully appreciate this im- 
portant food. For sheep, hogs and cattle it proves a cheap 
and desirable feed. For dairy cows it acts as a condi- 
tioning food, thus increasing the milk flow. 

Beet pulp is put out in three forms — wet, siloed and 
dry. The siloed is more or less moist, but a great deal of 
the water present in fresh pulp drains off down the silo 
drainage system. All arc desirable foods. The wet pulp 
varies in analysis but in general consists of : 

Per cent. 

Water 88.93 

Nitrogenous matter 88 

Digestible carbohydrates 6.70 

Indigestible carbohydrates 2.40 

Fat 07 

Ash 1.02 

Dry matter 10.67 

Siloed pulp loses mostly excess water. It experiences 
some changes through butyric and lactic fermentation so 
that it gains in dry matter. 
Its average composition is : 

Per cent. 

Water 88.01 

Nitrogenous matter 1.13 

Digestible carbohydrates 6.85 

Indigestible carbohydrates '. .' 2.90 

Fat - 11 

Ash 1.00 

Dry matter 11.99 

Dry pulp is simply fresh pulp with the bulk of the 

100 



water removed by means of some mechanical heating 
method. When dried it is unaltered in composition — sim- 
ply contains the same ingredients of the fresh pulp, only 
in larger proportion. In general it contains : 

Per cent. 

Water : 7-10 

Nitrogenous matter 7 -8 

Digestible carbohydrates 55 -60 

Indigestible carbohydrates 18 -20 

Fat 5-1 

Ash 10 -12 

Dry matter 90 -92 

The selling price of dried pulp varies greatly, ranging 
from $12 to $25 a ton. Often the pulp is mixed with a 
portion of the waste molasses or with some other edible 
or nutritious foods. From the standpoint of the feeding 
value it is worth eight times as much as siloed pulp and 
ten times as much as fresh pulp. When the savings in 
freight is taken into account it is worth still more. 

Pulp commands various prices. The rate is by no 
means uniform and is seldom based on the feeding value 
of the pulp. From the standpoint of feeding value fresh 
pulp is worth from $1 to $2.50 a ton. The feeding value 
is largely determined by the character and amount of 
the feed given with the pulp, the kind of stock which is 
fed (age, weight, condition, etc.), the initial cost of the 
feeders and the value of the finished product. Just as 
these factors vary from one year to another in different 
sections so will the value of the pulp vary. From analysis 
the pulp is worth at least $1.29 a ton. Compared with 
corn silage containing 70 per cent water it is worth half 
as much. If the pulp is pressed so that it contains 70 
per cent water its value is equal. The cattle, however, 
will eat twice as much of the pulp. 

Pulp forms a nutritious and wholesome, although a 
rather poorly balanced ration. 

Pulp is fed either for fattening purposes or as a main- 
tenance ration. 

Of the two methods the lesser amount of pulp will 
be used under the second way of feeding. Pulp fed in 
small quantities to dairy cows (20 to 40 pounds) will in- 
crease the flow of milk. It will not affect the butter fat. 
The pulp will not impart any unpleasant taste to milk, 
cheese or butter when used in this quantity. Care must 

101 



be exercised in starting in to feed pulp. Small quantities 
should be fed at first and gradually increased until the 
desired amount is being given. Experiments run with 
dairy cattle at the Utah experiment station showe(5 that 
24 pounds of beet pulp per day per cow for six weeks 
in addition to the hay and grain gave a better weekly 
gain than twelve pounds of sugar beets. With the pulp 
the average weekly yield of milk was 131 pounds. With 
beets it was 127.4. 

In fact, on a small place of 40 or 50 acres of tillable 
land, and a little pasture, the use of beet pulp and alfalfa, 
where it can be grown, with a small ration of grain will 
make dairying a very profitable industry. By rotating 
the land, one-half in beets and one-half in alfalfa for 
three years and then alternating, profit can be secured 
from the crops and work provided for the men. The 
beets themselves will prove profitable, the alfalfa will 
produce hay and prepare the land for the beets, while the 
pulp secured will prove a most desirable feed. Fifteen 
to twenty head of cows means a steady income of $150 
to $200 a nionth- The use of the manure secured and the 
effects of the crops on the land will result in an actual 
increase in fertility — a welcome contrast to the hard 
usage most land receives. 

For fattening cattle, beet pulp can be fed with profit 
either in a large or a small way. On small farms a few 
head can be successfully fattened. 

On a large scale four factors determine profit in pulp 
feeding to fatten cattle, or any other stock, for that 
matter : 

Ca) The cost of the feed. 

(b) The cost of the feeders. 

(c) Feeding must be complete in three months. 

(d) The selling price. 

Feeding Beet Pulp. To obtain the greatest returns 
from the use of beet pulp it should never constitute the 
total ration. This applies to both fattening and main- 
taining stock. Feeders can be fattened on pulp alone, but 
the dangers of weak, broken-down backs and kidney trou- 
bles are ever present and the stock must be marketed as 
soon as' ready. Moreover, while a ration of pulp alone 
will put more flesh on a cow or steer that is already in 
good condition, it will not fatten poor stock unless used 

102 




103 



in connection with something else. Chemical analysis 
shows that only a small per cent of the fresh pulp is food, 
90 per cent being water. But cattle certainly mal^e gains 
on it. This is due to the fact that it is a succulent feed 
and by increasing the digestive capacity of the animal 
and providing certain conditioning properties it fits the 
animal to make better use of its hay and grain. Cattle 
fed entirely on beet pulp cannot be put back on pasture. 
They must then be sold to the butcher. 

The kind of feed to give with the pulp for fattening 
depends on the local supply. The use of oil meal, corn, 
alfalfa or barley hay, field peas, barley, or roughage, such 
as straw, dried beet leaves or coarse hay, is determined 
by the amount at hand and the value. Consequently the 
method varies with dififerent sections. Ten to 12 pounds 
of alfalfa seems to be the best combination. Later this 
may be supplemented with 5 pounds of corn, or 2 to 5 
pounds of oil meal. The character of the feed, too, de- 
pends on the object sought, whether quick finishing or 
partial maintenance and partial fattening. 

At first the cattle must be starved to the pulp, for they 
do not always take to it readily. This will require four 
or five days, but once they do take to it they will eat it 
with relish. In general it may be said that the daily 
ration of pulp should amount to about 150 to 180 pounds 
of fresh pulp, or 80 to no pounds of siloed pulp, with 
10 to 15 pounds of roughage and 2 to 5 pounds of oil 
meal or grain for cattle averaging 1,000 pounds. This 
means tnat steers totaling 100,000 pounds (say 100 head) 
will require 7.5 tons of pulp, one-half ton of roughage, 
and from 200 to 500 pounds of grain a day. 

It is usually the plan to chop the roughage or hay and 
mix with the pulp, but this is a wasteful practice. The 
most successful way is to feed separately, as the hay fer- 
ments very easily when mixed with the pulp and large 
quantities have to be thrown out. The sour pulp left 
contaminates the new supply and causes it to spoil rap- 
idly. The untouched stuff litters up the yards and causes 
an unwholesome condition. 

When men and teams are available the putting of the 
pulp in the feed boxes every few hours will result in a 

104 



saving of material, as the stock will then keep it eaten 
up clean. 

The hay should be fed from stalls or scattered on the 
ground from the wagon. In dry weather the latter way 
is preferable, as it gives the weaker stock an equal chance 
while feeding. 

Siloing. Pulp is easy to silo, as it protects itself where- 
ever it is in quantity by the formation of a hard, shell- 
like covering 3 to 6 inches deep. This protects the pulp 
beneath. To be handled most economically the pulp 
should be put in large piles as the outer coating is best 
discarded. There, therefore, will be less waste from the 
big piles. Pulp differs from other ensilage as corn, clover, 
pea, etc., in that no care is required to exclude the air. 
The beet pulp takes care of itself in either the silo or 
when merely thrown in a pile. 

When the amount of pulp fed is small the piling method 
will answer. But for storing any quantity for any length 
of time, the construction of a suitable silo will prove a 
profitable investment. 

The location of the silo is important. In curing, pulp 
gives off a vast amount of water — from two-thirds to 
four-fifths of the original weight. For this reason land 
having quick and easy drainage is necessary. When this 
does not occur naturally it must be artificially provided. 
Water standing in a silo gives water logged, soggy, im^- 
perfectly cured pulp. This is difficult to handle, has a 
tendency to sour quickly and is distasteful to the stock. 
Silos should, where possible, be placed above the feeding 
pens. The pulp can then be carried by hand cars to the 
feed boxes, or if wagons are used to transport it the haul 
will be easier, especially when the roads are muddy. This 
means a saving in time and money. 

In building the silo the best kind to make is one built 
in the ground by excavating a long, shallow hole and 
lining with inch planks on the sides, and two inch on the 
bottoms. Pulp silos differ from those for corn, alfalfa, 
etc., in that provision must be made for great lateral 
swelling power. This strain is so great that only earth 
walls will withstand it. The silo can be 'ouilt in the 
ground or on it. In the latter case walls of earth are 
drawn up around the silo. For most situations the re- 
moval of the soil for use in building the sides will prove 

105 . -J 1^ ii 



most economical, the pulp being stored where the soil is 
taken out. Board or plank silos built above ground will 
not stand the pressure, even when reinforced with iron 
bands. 

It is best to make the silo wide and shallow rather than 
deep and narrow so that the wagons can be loaded in 
the silo and then driven out without too great an expen- 
diture of energy. When the silo is too small to back the 
wagon into it, the extra work in shoveling from a deep 
silo will not compensate for the saving in space. 

The floor of a silo is the important part. It must be 
so laid that the drainage is good, the flooring solid, and 
shoveling easy. If the soil is gravel the drainage will 
take care of itself. But when the soil is heavy artificial 
drainage must be provided. Two-inch planks set at a 
slight angle to permit the excess water to drain off at one 
side and far enough apart to prevent clogging, will do 
nicely. From the side where the planks discharge, a 
ditch or pipe can be laid to the nearest slough. 

As the value of pulp becomes more generally recog- 
nized the sugar companies are building big silos for stor- 
ing and then shipping out as needed by the feeder. Siloed 
pulp is worth more than fresh pulp. I have in mind a 
factory which sells fresh pulp for 25 cents a ton and 
siloed for 65 cents, yet it takes five tons of fresh to make 
one of siloed, due to the very large size of the silo and 
the great pressing given much of the pulp in it. 

Feeding on a Large Scale. Pulp feeding on a large 
scale has been proved a profitable venture. There is a 
good market for all pulp-fed stock, as the flesh is tender 
though firm, and can be cut off the carcass almost before 
the meat is cold. In other words it does not require ripen- 
ing. This appeals to the trade and pulp-fed meat always 
commands top-notch prices and often a premium in addi- 
tion. Moreover, the stock fattens six weeks earlier when 
fed on pulp. 

To properly feed cattle (the usual stock considered) a 
number of factors must be carefully studied out. Am.ong 
these are : 

(a) The feeders, their source, kind, condition, age and cost. 

(b) A dry, well drained- yard with ample corral room and 
railroad facilities. 

(c) An ample supply of pulp and roughage or other feed. 

(d) The market. 106 



Manifestly the buying and selling price must be far 
enough apart to permit feeding and transportation costs 
and to allow a fair profit. It is usually cheaper to bring 
the cattle to the pulp, i. e., in the vicinity of the sugar 
mill, than to transport the heavy pulp to the cattle. By 
shipping, cattle can be sent many hundreds of miles, and 
finished off to advantage. The kind and condition of the 
feeders is an important point. Profitable feeding means 
that the cattle (the stock most generally used, the same 
thing would apply to sheep or hogs, only in a different 
degree) must be finished in 120 days for light stock and 
150 days for heavy. The feeding, of course, will keep up 
as long as the pulp lasts, usually six to eight months. New 
stock will be brought in to take the place of that sent to 
the block. To make the greatest gain stockmen favor 
animals ranging from three to five years of age. Less 
food is utilized for growing purposes and the stock can 
put on fat rapidly. For this reason two-year-olds do 
not make the gains that older animals do. Animals with 
large, well sprung ribs, broad backs and small necks and 
shoulders — in other words, the best beef type — should be 
selected. These make greater gains in weight and com- 
mand better prices. Durhams are a class of cattle well 
fitted for fattening. Even should there be but a dash 
of Durham present in grade stock it will show in the 
better fattening of the animal. 

The proper feeding facilities are very important. To 
feed to the best advantage the animals must be confined. 
It is then possible to gauge the amount of food required, 
and there is less loss. The labor item is also reduced. 
Sufficient corrals should be available so that there will be 
a few extra ones for use in wet weather. It is very 
important that the corrals be kept dry and the proper 
selection of soil is necessary. Pulp-fed cattle secrete 
great quantities of urine, which, combined with the water 
from the pulp, means that in soils other than those of a 
very sandy or gravelly nature, muddy conditions are 
bound to result. This has been the cause of failure in 
many an instance. Young bullocks are fastidious. They 
dislike sloppy, wet conditions. Old cows and steers are 
not so particular, but even with them fattening will be 
delayed. 

107 



The yards should be near enough to a main Hne of 
railroad so that there is but a short drive, and at the same 
time far enough away so that passing trains will not 
disturb the cattle. This is especially necessary with range 
stock, as being unaccustomed to trains, barking dogs, a 
continual stream of people, or much shooting, quiet and 
peace are essential to rapid gains. At the same time the 
yards should be on a spur track so that the pulp can be 
shipped direct to them. When it is necessary or desirable 
to store a portion of the pulp, a properly constructed silo 
is a valuable requisite. This should be located with ref- 
erence to the feeding scheme, and preferably should go 
on high ground so that the pulp can be carried by grav- 
ity cars to the feeding pens, as described under "Siloing." 

Corrals of fairly large size are desirable, for instance 
five acres in each, as they permit moving the feed boxes 
around when the ground becomes sloppy. It also keeps 
the cattle from crowding by giving them room for feed- 
ing or basking. In this connection it might be well to 
draw attention to dehorning, which is an advantageous 
method to follow with feeders. 

By means of a network of wooden or iron track cars 
can be used to carry the food to the cattle. Any method 
of loading or unloading which will save time and labor 
will mean increased profits. 

Trees for shade and windbreaks are advisable. Where 
they do not occur naturally they should be planted, using 
kinds best adapted to the section. The protection and 
comfort for the cattle will be returned in the faster rate 
of fattening. 

The troughs for feeding should be wide, fairly shal- 
low and long so that the cattle can feed from both sides 
without interfering with one another. A convenient size 
is i8 inches deep, 3 feet wide, and 10 feet long, made 
with ample drainage to take off the excess water. This 
c-an be done by boring holes or leaving spaces between 
the planks, or if the troughs are wanted for some other 
purpose a hole can be bored in one end and through 
which the excess water can be poured. When the troughs 
are wanted elsewhere this can be stopped up and all made 
watertight. The feed boxes should be made as light as 
possible to Tdcilitate moving and yet solid enough to pre- 
vent the cattle moving them around. 

108 



When the boxes are to remain permanently they can be 
made as long as wanted with a platform on one side for 
the cattle to stand on while feeding. The track can run 
along the other side and the pulp be put in very easily. 

A constant supply of roughage must be on hand. If 
this can be grown in the immediate vicinity, so much the 
better, but if it must be hauled provision must be made 
to insure a constant supply on hand at all times. It is a 
wise policy to contract for the hay in advance. 

Beet pulp feeding has made money for every man who 
has studied his conditions. With the prospect of a steady 
market, and the increasing necessity of raising stall fed 
cattle to meet much of the demand, the value of the beet 
pulp for feeding is bound to advance. It is an investment 
well worth investigating. 

Preserving Pulp. The odor emanating from pulp silos 
is often so offensive that means for stopping it are desir- 
able. Common salt at the rate of four pounds to the 
ton of pulp put on every 6-inch layer has been recom- 
mended and found good. The use of certain lactic fer- 
ments to put in the silos is coming to the front, but up- 
todate they have not had sufficient trial in this country to 
show their value. 

Molasses. Molasses is the final residuum of the beet 
juice after it has gone through all the sugar extraction 
processes. It still contains a large quantity of sugar, and 
all the salts and other impurities which were present in 
the beet juice. It also contains the unextracted sub- 
stances which are used in the process. The molasses 
has a bitter and disagreeable taste and is unfit for human 
consumption, but is well worth considering as a stock 
food. Mixed with ground dry feeds and other rations it 
has given excellent results. It is quite generally fed in 
Germany. The molasses must not be fed alone or in 
large quantities because of its purging effect. When fed 
without mixing with dry feeds it should be diluted with 
two times its volume of water. In Europe it is fed 
mixed with a kind of mull from the top of moss, mixed 
while hot, and sold as a patent food. As a recommenda- 
tion for use in this country mix 20 pounds of molasses 
with 100 pounds of chopped hay or straw. After getting 
used to it cows will eat 20 pounds of this with 15 pounds 

109 



of cottonseed or linseed meal, or 20 pounds of wheat 
bran. When first feeding only small quantities of, mo- 
lasses should be given, gradually increasing the amount 
until the full ration is being fed. At the start only one- 
fourth the amount should be fed. Molasses is of great 
value to all kinds of stock, including horses, if not fed 
in too large amounts, as it has certain conditioning prop- 
erties. For work stock the molasses can be sprinkled 
on the hay either normal or diluted, at a trial rate of 
two pounds per day. 

Beet Tops. Beet tops are an important addition to the 
list of stock foods. They can be fed fresh, dried, siloed 
and either alone or in combination. They give a rare 
flavor and color to pork and beef. Stock fattened on 
tops command highest prices at killing time. 

Mechanically-dried tops contain about 10 per cent of 
water, and the feeding value is about nine times that 
of fresh tops. The field dried tops are about equal in 
feeding value, ton for ton, to first quality hay. It takes 
about four tons of fresh tops to make one of dry. 

The tops will equal from 20 to 40 per cent of the total 
weight of the plant — the usual average being 25 per cent. 
That is for every 12-ton crop of roots, there will be three 
tons of tops. In order to arrive at the value of the tops 
for feeding, whether this be done on the home ranch or 
on purchased tops, knowledge of the relation of tops pro- 
duced to roots is necessary. If the value of first-class 
hay is $10 per ton, the fresh tops will be worth $2.50, as 
they lose three-fourths of their weight in drying in the 
field, since dry tops are equal to hay. If the yield of 
roots is sixteen tons, the yield of tops (if they are 25 
per cent of the whole) will be four tons of fresh tops or 
one ton of dried tops. If taken up and fed these will be 
worth $10 per ton, or $10 per acre when dry. The fresh 
tops will be worth $2.50 per ton or $10 per acre. 

Beet tops should be fed preferably in the field. The 
reason for this is pointed out under ''Correct Topping of 
Beets." If taken off all the fertilizing ingredients are 
lost, unless every bit of the manure made is returned to 
the land. Feeding on the land is not so bad, although 
even in this case about one-fifth the value is lost, as the 

110 



manure returns 80 to 85 per cent. Figuring in this way 



the following table is interestini. 



K crop of 


Gives 


Ingredients returned 


Ingredients 


roots of 


tops 


in manure at 80%- 


Lost. 


8 tons 


2 tons 


1.6 tons 


.4 tons 


12 tons 


3 tons 


2.4 tons 


.6 tons 


16 tons 


4 tons 


3.2 tons 


.8 tons 



But as 25 to 50 per cent of the tops will be trampled 
in, the actual loss in feeding in the field is only from 
400 to 800 pounds, of which 90 per cent is water. The 
tops for feeding in the field — less 25 per cent trampled 
under — are therefore worth : 

From an 8 ton crop of roots $3.75 per acre. 

From a 12 ton crop of roots 5.62^^ per acre. 

From a 16 ton crop of roots 7.50 per acre. 

When selling tops for feeding it is well to contract by 
the acre. It is sometimes a question how much stock an 
acre will support and again there is no assurancre that all 
cattle will be put on which the land can carry. Acre 
rates will prove more satisfactory to both buyer and seller 
than a per head pasturage rate. An important provision 
should be inserted which requires that all cattle be re- 
moved from the land as soon as serious rains come, as 
their tramping over the muddy ground will result in 
puddling the soil, something difficult to overcome in fu- 
ture working. Cattle on the fields will trample down 
levees and ditch banks and even tramp down the land if 
dry. These things must be taken into account when con- 
sidering the pasturing of cattle on beet tops. 

The gain on beet tops depends, as in feeding pulp, on 
the age, condition and kind of stock at the start, the 
length of time fed, and the location of the fields as re- 
gards noise and disturbances. An actual experiment with 
ranch steers and Mexican cows (the cows were poor feed- 
ing stock) gave after being on tops 75 days an increase 
of 1703^2 pounds for the steers and 118 pounds for the 
cows. They sold for 5^ and 4^ cents on the hoof with 
no deduction for shrinkage. The original cost was 4^4 
and y/i cents respectively. The net profit was the value 
of the fat stock over the thin — one cent a pound, and the 
value of the increase in weight. When sold the steers 
averaged 1,283 and the cows 832 pounds. The stock re- 
ceived nothing but beet tops and such green stufif as they 
could pick up along the ditch banks. 

Ill 



With reasonable care there is no danger in feeding beet 
tops. They should not be fed moldy. Care must also be 
exercised when bringing cattle from dry feed to the tops. 
If fed too much at first they scour badly and fattening 
will be set back several weeks. In a large field it will 
pay to herd the stock on the portion which has been har- 
vested long enough to permit the tops to wither and wilt, 
as there is no danger of scouring when the tops have 
reached this stage. In this way, too, there is less loss, 
for stock will leave dry tops for fresh ones if they can 
get at them. 

The greatest danger is from choking and moldy beets. 
For choking a piece of stiff rubber hose three feet long 
should be always at hand to be used in forcing a lodged 
top on down through the animal's throat. If a choking 
animal is not promptly attended to it will strangle to 
death. When a beet top becomes stuck the affected ani- 
mal will hunt some shrub or low spot to hide. Such 
places should be constantly watched. After the stock 
has been on tops for three or four days the avaricious 
greed they show at first slackens, and the danger of 
choking is then slight. 

Moldy beets are the outcome of moist, warm weather. 
Dry, or nearly dry, tops will not become readily affected. 
Tops showing mold should not be fed. While any moldy 
food is bad, moldy tops are especially so. 

Beet tops make a good feed and wdll prove an extra 
source of income from the land. The more land put in 
beets the greater will be the return from this source. 
Personally, the author believes the income derived from 
the beets more than offsets the damage to the land, pro- 
vided the stock is not left on after the land becomes wet. 
The amount of fertility lost is hardly enough to take into 
account, if proper methods of green manurins:, fertiliz- 
ing and crop rotation are being followed. Of course, 
when the land is in need of humus, plowdng the tops 
under green is most advisable, but after a few treat- 
ments of this kind, the tops can be used to advantage 
for stock feed. 



112 



CHAPTER III. 



Beet Troubles. 

The discussion of beet troubles will prove more for- 
midable in these pages than their real occurrence in the 
field. The beet is singularly free from insect and fungus 
pests, so that only at rare intervals is the application of 
any remedy necessary. When a trouble does appear, 
however, a quick, correct diagnosis and the speedy ap- 
plication of a remedy will often mean insurance against 
damage. For this reason the different general troubles 
are taken up here. Many of these are purely local, others 
are more or less general, while some appear only at more 
or less infrequent intervals. Probably no section is trou- 
bled by all of them. 

Insect Control. — The direct control of insects depends 
on their method and way of feeding. For forms which 
feed on the top of the beet, spraying is employed to a 
large extent. It is beyond the scope of this work to do 
more than point out the best method to employ. Insects 
gain their food by either sucking (as plant lice, leaf hop- 
pers, etc.) or by actually eating the tissues of the plant 
(as caterpillars, leaf miners and many beetles). To kill 
the former, a spray must be employed which will come 
in actual contact with the insect. Sprays for this pur- 
pose are of an oily nature and kill by forming a film over 
the insect, thereby shutting out the air and causing the 
insect to suffocate to death. 

For insects which gain their food by eating parts of 
the plant, poison for them can be put on where they are 
in the habit of feeding, so that when the insect feeds it 
will take in the poison with its food. Sprays for this 
purpose should contain very active poisons which will 
stick to the plant during wet spells of weather. 

113 



For sucking insects the contact poison, as it is called, 
usually employed is kerosene emulsion. It is made of : 
'^ pound whale-oil soap. 
2 gallons kerosene. 
I gallon water. 

The water is brought to a boil and the soap is dis- 
solved in it. Then this mixture is removed from the fire 
and the kerosene added, the whole then being churned 
together until of the consistency of thick cream. The 
easiest way to do this is to pour it into the spray tank 
and pump it back into itself under high pressure for a 
few minutes. 

This constitutes the stock solution. For use against 
the insects it is diluted at the rate of one part of stock 
solution to fifteen parts of water. The formula given 
will, therefore, be sufficient for one ordinary 50-gallon 
barrel of spray. 

It is absolutely necessary that the spray be thoroughly 
prepared, so that there will be no free kerosene present. 
This would tend to be injurious to the plants. 

For insects which chew their food, arsenate of lead 
is at the head of the list. It is easy to mix and spray, is 
effective, and sticks on once it is dry, in spite of numer- 
ous rains. The usual rate of application is three to five 
pounds to a barrel of water (50 gallons). 

Clean culture around the fields will go far toward re- 
ducing insect pests. The removal of rubbish piles, the 
cleaning out of fence corners and lines, the picking up 
of old pieces of board and other trash, and the removal 
of weeds will prevent the wintering over of many adults, 
with a consequent reduction of insects. Cleanliness 
around the fields is worth more attention than it usually 
receives. And the beauty of such a course is that it 
benefits the farm where it is practiced, irrespective of 
neighbors' neglect. 

The pasturing of turkeys or poultry on the beet fields 
until the young plants begin to peep through will go far 
toward ridding the land of many insect pests. 

Fwigiis Control. — Bordeaux mixture is the usual rem- 
edy for fungus troubles. It consists of a combination of 
bluestone (copper sulphate), lime and water. It is usu- 
ally made of five pounds of bluestone and six pounds of 

114 



lime to 50 gallons of water. The bluestone is dissolved 
in 25 gallons of water. Unslaked lime is_ used for the 
lime part. The required amount of lime is slaked with 
just enough water to moisten it. care being taken not to 
drown it. When thoroughly slaked, enough water is 
added to bring the total up to 25 gallons. For spraymg, 
the two are run together into the spray tank through 
strainers, and thoroughly stirred together. 

In spraying, either for insects or fungi, the material 
should be put on when it will dry. It will then be quite 
resistant to rains. Any spray outfit is satisfactory which 
throws a fine, mist-like spray under pressure. The noz- 
zle is important in this connection. The Bordeaux and 
Vermoral are both standards. 

With a growing plant like the beet it is necessary to 
repeat the sprayings as often as new growth appears, 
and to protect all parts it is necessary that the spraying 
be verv thorough. In fact, the degree of success at- 
tained "by the spray will be directly determined by the 
thoroughness of the work. 

Combined Insect and Fungus Control.— This is accom- 
plished by using three to five pounds of arsenate of lead 
in Bordeaux mixture, and spraying both at ouce. It can 
only be utilized against insects which chew their food. 

When any general insect or fungus trouble is apt to 
appear, it is good policy to spray the crop when it gets 
above ground and to repeat the spraying at intervals of 
two or" three weeks. This is especially applicable to sec- 
tions suffering from leaf-spot. By putting on a com- 
bined fun^ricide and insecticide, as just described, many 
insects will be destroved with the fungi, and vice versa. 
In using combined sprays they should be mixed only 
when needed for immediate use. 

Insect Troubles.— It would be a long list to name all 
the insects which feed on the beet. For general purposes 
the following only are of sufficient importance to war- 
rant special notice: 

Insects Affecting the Beet Foliage.— A host of insects 
occur here, for the succulent green leaves offer an at- 
tractive addition to insect diet. Blister beetles, both the 
striped one. or old-fashioned potato beetle (Diahrotica 
vittata), one-half inch long, with black and yellow 

115 



stripes, and the cucumber beetle (Diabroctica 12 — punc- 
tata), same length, but green in color, with twelve black 
spots on the back, are voracious feeders. These ar^ fa- 
miliar to all. 

Plant bugs of various kinds, leaf hoppers and web- 
worms, of which the beet webM'orm (Loxostege stic- 
tacalis) is the most important, feed on the beet. The 
latter is a pale, yellowish-green caterpillar, spotted with 
black points, from each of which a hair arises. When 
full grown they are three-quarters of an inch long. They 
are the young of a moth with fringed wings. They live 
under a web which they spin for protective purposes, on 
the crown leaves, or underside of old leaves. 

Woolly bears (Spilosoma virginica) — large hairy cat- 
erpillars — are familiar feeders. 

The beet army-worm (Caradrina exigiia) also feeds 
on the tops, as does the zebra caterpillar. 

The irregular channels often seen in beet leaves are 
caused by the migrations of a tiny slug working between 
the two surfaces of the leaf. It is the young of a fly 
(Pegoya vidua), resembling the common housefly, only 
one-half as large. It is more interesting than serious. 

Thrips, tiny insects with featherylike wings, do some 
damage to the leaves but are seldom serious. They differ 
from the ones just mentioned in that they require a 
contact poison. 

The flea beetle, several families of which are usually 
represented, is the worst pest of the beet top. The 
beetles have strong, well-developed hind legs, with which 
they propel themselves forward with great leaps, similar 
to the action of a flea. They skeletonize the leaf of the 
beet by eating the pulp out from between the veins. 

The red spider (Tetraynchus himaculatiis) is easy to 
recognize. They are tiny mites, visible on the underside 
of the leaf as red specks. They spin a protective web. 
Contact poisons will assist in reducing them. 

Plant lice are known to all. Any contact poison will 
hold them down. The ladybirds (red beetles) are the 
greatest factor in keeping them down, and in ordinary 
seasons will be the only control required. 

Insects Affecting the Roots. — Few insects attack the 
roots of the beet, which is indeed fortunate, as this is 

116 



the real marketable part. The root louse (woolly aphis) 
and wireworms are the two worst pests. These will be 
taken up in detail with one or two other insects demand- 
ing more than passing notice. 

The Woolly Aphis (Pemphigus betae). — The woolly 
aphis is closely related to the same insect on the roots 
of apple trees. It lives in the soil on the fine roots of the 
beet, drawing its nourishment from the sap. As a re- 
sult the beet suffers, and if the insect is present in any 
number, it will be dwarfed and much reduced in weight. 

The presence of the insect is easy to determine from 
the small, white, woolly-like masses which, like mold, 
surround the insect for protection. This gives the insect 
its name. Within this protective covering is the insect, 
a pale, lemon-yellow or whitish pear-shaped body of all 
sizes up to one-eighth inch in length. The legs are black 
and the insect is equipped with a beak through which it 
sucks its food. 

Early in the spring the insect flies into the beet fields 
and settles down. They breed very fast, no winged forms 
being present until the numbers have multiplied to such 
an extent that crowding results. Then a brood of winged 
forms will be produced which fly off to other parts of 
the field. In the fall, on the approach of cold weather, 
or after the beets are harvested, winged forms also ap- 
pear which leave the field and seek winter quarters. 

The insect will live on either dock (Rumex), pigweed 
or lambs quarters ( Cheno podium) , or on beets. If stray 
beets remain in the field they will winter over on these. 
If there are no beets the insects will come from the dock 
or lambs quarters in the spring. 

Prevention is the sole method of control. As the in- 
sects are under the soil on the beets there is no cheap 
remedy which will reach them. Irrigation is of no use, 
other than to encourage the beet to renewed effort to 
withstand the insect attack. The removal of other plants 
upon which the insects feed is the main source of con- 
trol. Dock and lambs quarters should never be permitted 
in the fields, in the ditches, or along the fence lines. 
While only a general campaign, involving all growers, 
will give anything like complete freedom from the aphis, 
the killing of the weeds will result in a greater freedom 

117 



on that particular place, as well as prolong the time be- 
fore the insects appear. 

To successfully kill dock it should be either dug up or 
else cut off below the crown. Chopping it off at the sur- 
face will merely result in the throwing up of new growth. 

Beet Blight or Curly Top. — The trouble known by 
these names is a condition produced by the feeding of a 
small leaf hopper on the beet. For many years the con- 
dition has appeared to a greater or less extent in many 
of the semi-arid sections. It is unknown in humid re- 
gions, so far as the author can learn. It baffled all 
attempts at solution until recently, when Dr. E. D. Ball 
of the Utah Experiment Station definitely located the 
cause in the feeding of a small leaf hopper {Eiitettix 
tenella). The author has verified Dr. Ball's conclusions 
and worked out quite a little concerning the insect in 
California. As the subject is by no means thoroughly 
understood at the present time, a fairly complete descrip- 
tion may not be out of place. 

The insect which produces the trouble is about one- 
eighth inch long, whitish or cream in color, and has a 
hump-backed or round-shouldered appearance when at 
rest, because of the position of the wings. Unless one 
is familiar with leaf hoppers he would be apt to overlook 
this one, as it is not at all conspicuous, and, being shy, 
rapidly flies ahead of all comers. It is commonly known 
as "white fly'' when numerous enough to attract atten- 
tion. 

The damage is done by the insects feeding on the 
plant. In so doing a bacterial or insect poison is ap- 
parently injected into the plant, which, passing to the 
growing crown, seriously interferes with the normal de- 
velopment of the leaves. The nature of the poison is not 
well understood, and for practical purposes it makes lit- 
tle difference. It is sufficient to know that if the insect 
is feeding on the beet it will blight, and that blight (re- 
ferring to blight characterized by symptoms which will 
be discussed after a little) cannot be produced without 
the insect's attack. 

Beets will blight no matter how old, but the younger 
the beet the greater will be the damage. Beets are very 
tender until they have grown eight to ten leaves, and 

118 



study of the insect on the spot is really valuable, as there 
is no cure-all which can be applied. Weather conditions 
play a very important part; cold, wet winters killing 
many, while dry, warm ones will result in the survival 
of some to reinfest the fields. No spray can be used 
which will reach them, as they gain their food by suck- 
ing, and to be effective the spray must reach every one. 
This is an impossibility, due to their active movements, 
shyness, and quick flight on the approach of danger, and 
to the scarcity of the individuals which will produce dam- 
age. Parasites will prove of little value because of the 
variable number of insects from one year to another. 

As the insects usually come onto the field in numbers, 
any remedy must be cheap, quick and applicable to a 
large area at once. As stated before, a knowledge of the 
insect's habits is necessary to determine this point. 
Where much damage is done it will pay the beet sugar 
interests, either mill or growlers, to get together and hire 
some good entomologist to make this study. If the time 
of the insect's appearance is knowm, the time of planting 
can be planned accordingly. The whole idea is to bring 
the plants to the twelve-leaf stage by the time the insects 
appear, or else to delay planting, or, rather, the appear- 
ance of the seedlings until after the insects have arrived 
and are settled. When possible, the first way will usu- 
ally prove to be the more satisfactory. 

In connection with the planting, the judicious use of 
irrigation water is advisable when the insects first appear 
in the fields. This tends to drive them off and at the 
same time provides conditions for the plant's growth so 
that it will have greater resistance. In order to use irri- 
gation water, the beets must have at least four leaves. 

The main factors to bear in mind, then, in controlling 
the beet blight are : 

(a) A knowledge of the insect's local habits; (b) a 
twelve-leaf growth when the insects arrive, and (c) a 
judicious irrigation to hold off the insects and to stimu- 
late the plant. 

Blapst'uins (sp.). — These are black, rather dusty look- 
ing beetles, one-third of an inch long, which can be 
found traveling the beet fields in the spring when the 
seedlings are coming up. They do damage by nipping' 

119 



previous to this are very sensitive to insect attack. But 
after they have from twelve to fourteen leaves the dam- 
age will be materially reduced. This is due to the fact 
that only the new leaves which are produced are blighted. 
The older ones remain normal. Therefore when a plant 
has grown twelve leaves it is still capable of making 
considerable growth even without the aid of the new 
leaves formed, and while the plant continues to blight 
in its new growth, it has impetus enough to produce a 
marketable, although smaller, beet. When small beets 
are attacked they make very little additional growth. 
While they seldom die, they remain dwarfed and stunted 
and never amount to much. The reason that blighting is 
so pronounced after thinning time is because the insects 
which are present are scattered over the field by the 
thinning gang and become generally distributed. More- 
over, one-twentieth as many plants must now withstand 
their onslaught because of the large number of beets 
removed in thinning. Each insect will blight every beet 
it feeds upon, so that with migratory insects only a few 
are needed to do a great deal of damage. 

The chief characteristics of blighted beets is the thick- 
ened, prominent veins with small bunches or swellings in 
them. Accompanying these are a thickening of the leaf 
tissue, a darkening in color, and a generally distorted, 
incurling habit of growth of the foliage, so that it forms 
a close-clustered, cabbage-like head. A big mass of 
fibrous roots occur along the seams of the main root, 
which carry large quantities of soil and give a bewhisk- 
ered appearance to the beet. The texture of the root is 
hard and woody, making it difficult to cut in the mill. 
Rings of a blackish or brownish hue are present which 
rapidly blacken on exposure to the air. The juice is 
intensely bitter to the taste. 

To successfully work out a method of control, a study 
of the habits of the insects is necessary in each locality. 
If the insect is natural to the section, the spread from 
its food plants — Atriplex, Russian thistle, sage brush, 
etc. — will depend much upon climatic conditions. If the 
descent upon the beets is from other valleys or sections 
of the country the conditions determining the flight of 
the insect will be purely local. For this reason, only a 

120 








GOOD SPECIMENS' OF BEETS. 

BLIGHTED AND NEMATODE BEETS. 

Bliehted, two pots on left. Nematode, pot on right. 

BLIGHTED BEETS. 

121 



the tender seedlings and sucking the juice, so that in 
many cases the stand will be seriously curtailed. 

The beetles usually winter as adults in old fence cor- 
ners or around buildings. They lay their eggs in the 
field and the young develop in the soil. 

Because of their habits they are rather hard to deal 
with. Pasturing the fields with poultry or turkeys previ- 
ous to and at the time the beets are coming up will give 
comparative immunity. At the same time many other in- 
jurious insects will be destroyed. Cleaning up corners 
and all stray trash will go far toward ridding the fields, 
as the insects must then travel beyond their confines to 
get winter quarters. The use of 50 per cent more seed 
in sowing, and earlier sowing, to precede the arrival of 
the insects, is advisable. 

Once the beets have two true leaves they are beyond 
danger. 

Cutzvornis. — Cutworms are the young of certain moths. 
They are ugly, mottled brown, rather smooth caterpillars 
which feed at night and hide in crevises during the day. 
They are one and a half inches long when mature. 

They damage the beets by cutting ofif the young plants 
and by feeding on the leaves of older ones. 

The use of arsenate of lead on the older plants will 
efifectually stop their work. To protect the young plants 
a poisoned bait of clover sprayed with arsenate of lead 
should be spread in the fields previous to and at the time 
of sowing the beets. In this connection the edges of the 
field should receive special attention. Turkeys and poul- 
try are also useful in reducing the damage from this 
source. 

Wirezvorms are hard, yellow, shining worms, from dif- 
ferent sizes up to one inch long, living in the soil. They 
are the young of ordinary click beetles. They attack the 
roots of the beet and are mostly serious when the beet 
is very young, for by eating the young, tender roots they 
kill out the beets. 

Wireworms are always worse in sod, clover or grass 
land, or after corn, potatoes or beans. When land is 
once infested the pest must be partially starved out by 
either summer fallowing the land and keeping down the 
weeds, by growing crops which they will not attack, or 

122 



by sowing corn poisoned with strychnine and harrowing 
it in. Another method is to poison potatoes or wads of 
succulent vegetation with strychnine and place them 
around the fields under boards early in the spring. 

A further desirable prevention is the removal of all 
trash, so that the adult beetles will have no place to 
hibernate during the winter. 

Wireworms pass two years in the ground. Their pres- 
ence can be detected by pulling out wilted beets and ex- 
amining the beet and the soil around where the beet was 
growing. 

CJiezving Insects, — There are a large number of insects 
which are fond of the foliage of the beet — caterpillars of 
various kinds, canker worms, woolly bears and a host of 
others. These can be controlled by spraying the foliage 
with arsenate of lead. For the web-worms it is neces- 
sary to spray before the insects are protected by their 
webs, as the spray cannot penetrate these. 

By spraying early and repeating the spraying often 
enough to keep the additional growth covered, the beets 
can be successfully protected. 

Bordeaux mixture will prove a desirable repellant for 
flea beetles. When spraying for plant diseases the flea 
beetle will be taken care of at the same time. 

Sucking Insects. Plant lice and thrips are examples of 
these. They require a dose of kerosene emulsion when- 
ever they become numerous. Care must be taken to hit 
the insects with the spray, and to reach the parts of the 
plant where the insects are most numerous. 

Conclusion. When an insect becomes numer- 
ous enough to cause uneasiness it is well to consult the 
mill agriculturist or send specimens to the nearest state 
experiment station for identification and information as 
to the proper control. 

Beyond the mere hint at the subject, entomology is be- 
yond the scope of this text. 

Fungus Troubles. — Foremost among the fungus trou- 
bles is ''leaf spot" (Cercospora heticola). This is the 
result of the growth of a fungus inside the leaf tissue. 
The fungus is a parasatic plant like mistletoe on oak, 
dodder on alfalfa, Spanish moss and the like, which 
grows from a small seedlike body. These "seeds" are 

123 



blown about in the air and fall on the leaf. They ger- 
minate as soon as a little moisture is present, sending 
down little threadlike, bulb-tipped suckers into the^ leaf 
through which the fungus gains its food. When nu- 
merous the drain on the beet will result in impaired vi- 
tality and a lowered yield. 

The disease is easy to recognize by its characteristic 
formation of shrunken spots at the points of infection. 
At first these are about the size of the head of a pin but 
they gradually increase until they are about one-fourth 
inch in diameter. If numerous several will coalesce, and 
pale brown or ashy gray patches of leaf are the result. 
The edge of the more or less circular spot is a purplish 
color and it is at this point that the fungus is getting in 
its active work, the dead and shriveled tissue having 
been drained dry. It is rare that the leaf spot is fatal 
for new leaves are formed to take the place of those de- 
vitalized by the fungus. But there is no question as to 
the reduction of sugar and weight from the ravages of 
the disease. 

Sprays have not been remarkably successful but the use 
of Bordeaux mixture is recommended. If put on when 
the plants are very young and repeated at intervals of 
two or three weeks it will prove partially successful. 

The breeding of plants naturally more resistant to the 
disease seems to be the most promising way of con- 
trolling it. This, however, is a matter beyond the scope 
of the farmer. It is a question receiving attention from 
the more progressive seed growers and something is 
likely to be done along this line. 

Discontinuing the growing of beets on land which is 
badly infested for two or three years is a prescription 
which has been recommended, with a view to reducing 
the fungus. 

Another leaf-spot (Phyllosticta hetae) has been re- 
ported from certain sections and the above remarks will 
also apply to it. Its appearance is about the same as the 
Cercospora. 

Beet Scab is another fungus trouble, this one affecting 
the roots instead of the top. It is caused by the same 
organism (Oospora scabies) as that which produces 
scabby potatoes. The roots show roughened, woody, 

124 



brown patches of warty-like excresences which are the 
result of the formation of an abundance of corky tis- 
sues induced by the activities of the fungus. Beets and 
potatoes should never follow one another where this 
disease exists. An over abundance of water will pro- 
duce conditions favorable for scab development and 
proper regulation of the water supply is essential. 

Beet Rust (Uromyces hetae), characterized by small 
brown pustules or pimples on the leaves which give off a 
copious brown powder, is seldom serious, but it will 
surely attract attention is present in any amount. Cold, 
damp weather is favorable to the development of this 
disease. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture will check it 
should it become serious enough to warrant a control. 

A Dozvny Mildezv (Peronospora Schachtii) has been 
reported from one section. It is characterized by downy, 
cobweb like growth on the undersides of the leaves. Bor- 
deaux is the remedy. 

A Soft Rot of the roots caused by bacteria (Bacterium 
teutlem) will sometimes occur on wet land. The avoid- 
ance of such land or the supplying of proper drainage 
will be the remedy. 

The Rhizoctonia Root Rot ( Rlikoctonia hetae) is an- 
other outcome of too cold or too wet soil. It attacks both 
seedlings and adult beets. The following paragraph will 
describe it more in detail : 

Seedling Root Rot. — When beet seedlings on being 
drawn out of the ground show blackened root tips or 
brownish, juicy spots on the roots it is evidence of root 
rot. It is caused by a fungus or fungi which are pres- 
ent in all soils. It gains a foothold on the seedling when 
the vitality of the plantlet is weakened. Root rot only 
attacks plants growing in cold, wet, uncongenial soils. 

If the disease progresses far the stand will be cut 
down and in some instances seriously impaired. A change 
of weather to warm, dry spells will often save a crop suf- 
fering from this trouble. 

Precaution consists in holding off planting until the 
land is warm enough to start and carry on germination 
rapidly and evenly. When the soil is cold to the touch 
it should not be planted. Plants once attacked by root rot 
are beyond remedy. When the attack is quite general so 

125 



that most of the plants are suffering from it, replanting 
will be necessary. But when there is enough healthy 
plants to give a stand nothing need be done other than to 
insist that in thinning the largest and most vigorous 
plants be left. 

Seedling root rot is sometimes confused with a natural 
condition of the root which comes when the beet has two 
or three true leaves. The outer epidermis then splits 
lengthwise and gradually shrivels away until it becomes 
nothing but a black, thread-like string. This is an entirely 
normal condition and is no cause for alarm. 

Crozvn Rot: — This is caused by bacteria or fungi of 
different kinds gaining admittance into the growing heart 
of the beet, through cavities formed by rapid growth of 
the beet. A rich soil, an overabundance of water, too 
much organic matter in the soil, too much stimulating fer- 
tilizer, hot forcing weather or a combination of two or 
more of these conditions which result in an overstimu- 
lance of plant growth which will cause the beet to grow a 
soft, watering crown and to have a tendency to split just 
below this crown. Bacteria and fungi gain admittance 
and, with the moisture which collects from fogs, rain, 
dew or irrigation, produce crown rot. 

The furnishing of proper conditions for steady beet 
growth will largely do away with this trouble. If it 
starts, air-slaked lime or wood ashes dusted over the 
plant will go far towards correcting the trouble. 

Physiological Troubles. — In addition to the insect and 
fungus troubles the beet will sometimes show symptoms 
which cannot be traced to either of these. Such trou- 
bles when they entail the derangement of the natural 
functions of the plant, are called "physiological" troubles. 

Sprangley roots due to hardpan is a physiological trou- 
ble. Naturally the correction of this will be the elimina- 
tion of the hardpan. 

Compound Tops is another case of this kind. It is the 
result of excessive growth of the beet (as described under 
**crown rot"). Instead of one top being sent up, the 
original splits, and several are produced. An open cavity 
usually accompanies it. The correction lies in the provid- 
ing of right soil conditions, neither too rich nor too 
moist, so that excessive growth will not result. Com- 

126 



pound top beets are always large beets but their sugar 
content is poor, and they are not satisfactory for manu- 
facturing purposes. 

Compounds tops will always form as secondary growth 
when the beet is preparing to send up seed stalks. These 
seed stalks are the natural outcome of a desire on the 
part of the beet to reproduce itself when growth is com- 
pleted or when the plant receives a sudden check. 

Seed Stalks will form with little attendant secondary 
growth early in the plant's growth if any serious check 
spells followed by dry, or the everse, are apt to cause 
the plant to produce seed stalks. It is a tendency on the 
part of the beet to perpetuate its kind in case poor grow- 
ing weather is to come. Seed formation is usually accom- 
panied by a loss in sugar (although there are some sec- 
tions which are an exception to this) and such beets are 
as a rule unfit for milling purposes. 

Lack of Plant Foods. — The lack of certain of the main 
elements required by plants for their normal development 
produces certain physiological disturbances. When the 
leaves turn yellow before maturity and are reduced in 
size from no apparent cause (such as hard soil) it indi- 
cates a lack of nitrogen. 

When the leaves do not turn lighter when mature, but 
wither while still remaining upright and the usual dark 
shade of green they indicate a deficiency of phosphoric 
acid. 

A tendency to curl and wither quickly in sunlight, with 
the presence of large yellow spots, later turning brown, 
and the rather sudden change to this condition from the 
rich, dark green indicates a lack of potash. 

These symptoms presuppose proper methods of grow- 
ing the crop. 

Animal Troubles. — Under this heading must be re- 
corded the presence of the worst sugar beet pest in our 
American fields — Nematodes or eel w^orms (Hcterodera 
Schachtii). To the casual observer the eel worms are 
more like insects than animals. 

Only the females are visible to the naked eye. They 
appear as small, wdiitish sac-like or bead-like protuber- 
ances about one-sixty-fourth of an inch in diameter on the 
fine feeding roots of the beet. The males are only visible 

127 



under a microscope. There they appear like small thread- 
like eels. 

The young are produced from eggs and when hatched 
they crawl around until they find a suitable place to 
settle down and feed. The females soon lose their power 
of locomotion and develop into something little more 
than a living sack full of eggs. They appear on the 
roots like little spots of mold, but when squeezed between 
the thumbnail and finger squash into a liquid-like mass. 

The males do not lose their power of locomotion for 
a considerable period but work around at ease. 

The Nematodes are very destructive. The extent of 
the damage can be judged from the following: Fifty 
beets were taken from both a Nematodes infested patch 
and from healthy beets near by. The two lots were 
taken from the same field, from beets raised under the 
same conditions, and were but a dozen or twenty feet 
apart. They were about four months old. The weight 
of the infested beets was two pounds nine ounces for 
the lot ; the healthy beets weighed sixty-eight pounds six 
ounces. 

If a small, irregular spot of undersized beets appears 
in your field among the healthy beets a number should 
be carefully dug up, the clinging soil gently washed off 
and the fine roots examined for the females. Samples 
of the beets should also be forwarded to the nearest Ex- 
periment Station for further examination. 

The Nematodes will feed on almost anything if forced 
to it. To combat them in the field, irrigation water must 
be kept off the patches and no more beets raised there. 
Alfalfa is a good crop to put in as the Nematodes seem 
to fail on it. Absolutely clean cultivation for two years 
will also tend to starve them out. For very small 
patches fumigation with carbon bi-sulphide or formalin 
will prove feasible. Whether trap crops, fumigation, 
rotation or fallowing shall be practiced depends on the 
size of the patch, the degree of watchfulness which can 
be exercised, and the amount of work which can be 
done. 

There is no worse pest than the Nematodes and their 
presence in our beet fields, even if in only two instances, 
is good grounds for alarm. Nematodes beets will not 

128 



be knowingly accepted by the mill as the danger of 
spreading them in the wash water is very great. 

Gophers, Moles, Ground Squirrels and Rabbits all feed 
upon the beet. 

For Rabbits wire fencing to keep them off the fields 
will prove effective, or a couple of good rabbit dogs will 
produce comparative immunity. When the rabbits are 
numerous the old fashioned rabbit hunt cannot be beaten. 

For Moles trapping is best, while irrigation will de- 
stroy large numbers. 

For Gophers conscientious trapping will rid fields if 
there are not too many alfalfa or neglected fields near by 
for them to breed in. With both moles and gophers early 
spring trapping is best as one caught then counts for a 
dozen later on. 

Gophers will also take poisoned baits if put onto their 
runways. 

For trapping gophers the California Maccabee trap 
is hard to beat. The trap is placed in the entrance of the 
burrow, staked with a wire and the entrance then closed 
with a handful of green grass or weeds. 

Irrigation will also destroy large numbers of them. 
When putting the water on, the levees and high places 
should be watched as the gophers, forced out by the 
water, seek these spots to remain until the water sub- 
sides. A good fox terrier at such a time will prove a 
most desirable aid. 

Ground Squirrels may be destroyed when the ground 
is wet by the use of a wad of cotton, burlap or old cloth 
half the size of one's fist, saturated with carbon bi- 
sulphide, tossed into the open burrow, followed by a 
lighted match (to ignite it), and the entrance then closed 
with a shovelful of earth. In doing this work it is a good 
plan to close all entrances a day or two before the work 
is to be done, and then confine attention to those which 
are reopened. The saving in the amount of carbon used 
will more than offset the extra labor. Care should be 
exercised not to have lighted pipes or other fire around 
the carbon as it is very inflammable. The can containing 
it should always be kept closed as the substance is very 
volatile. 

For poisoning, grains, sweet potato, water melon rind, 

129 



beet root, raisins and prunes are all good. Strychnine is 
the best poison to use. Grains can be used to best advan- 
tage when the vegetation is green, while the succulent 
things will give best returns during the dry seasons^ 

The best all around grain ^formula I have found is : 

Whole barley or wheat 20 pounds 

Starch paste 1 pint 

Strychnine sulphate 1 ounce 

Sugar Vs ounce 

The grain should be placed in a receptacle large 
enough to hold it easily. One pint of water is then 
brought to a boil and two tablespoonsful of laundry 
starch, previously dissolved in a little cold water, is 
slowly added to the boiling water, to form when well 
cooked a paste about the consistency of cream. The 
strychnine (previously powdered if in crystals) and the 
sugar should then be added to the hot starch paste and 
the mixture well stirred until thoroughly incorporated to- 
gether. While still hot it is poured over the grain and 
the whole thoroughly mixed until each kernel is coated. 
It is then set aside to cool. 

In scattering the poison, only a few kernels should be 
used near each burrow. If too large a supply is left the 
squirrel will become suspicious and refuse to touch it. 
The grain should be scattered on the hard dry ground 
along the nmways and not in the loose soil at the mouth 
of the burrows. A point to bear in mind is to look for 
the presence of young growing grain at the mouth of the 
burrow. If this is present it is a sign that the place is 
unoccupied and the putting of poison here would be a 
useless waste. 

To add poison to the other substances m.entioned insert 
a crystal of the strychnine (or as much as can be held on 
the point of a knife) into pieces of the material of a size 
large enough to handle easily. With raisins or prunes a 
bit of poison is put into each one. 

*This is the formula worked up by the Biological Survey of 
the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



130 



CHAPTER l\\ 



Impro\'ement of Our Agriculture. 

When discussing the vahie and need of rotation crops, 
the subject of improving our agriculture was discussed at 
some length. European, soils have been farmed for hun- 
dreds of years longer than ours yet European countries 
in many instances, are producing more to the acre than 
are we. France harvests over 23 bushels of wheat to 
the acre with her so-called "worn out" soil. We pro- 
duced in the same year a trifle over 11 bushels. 

Germany in 1907 produced one-fifth as much wheat 
from one-eleventh the acreage as did we. In other words. 
her yields, like France's, was over twice ours. 

Holland and Belgium harvest over twice as much rye 
as do our greatest rye producing states. Germany pro- 
duced nearly 140 per cent more than do we. 

And so it goes. Germany in 1907 harvested 70 per cent 
more barley than our best producing states, 135 per cent 
more oats, and 112 per cent more potatoes to the acre. 

Figured on an acreage basis (as compiled by Truman 
G. Palmer) Germany's figures are very instructive: 

United States. Germany. 

Bushels. Bushels. 

Wheat 14.0 29.6 

Oats 23.7 58.2 

Rye 23.8 38.2 

Barley 16.4 25.7 

Potatoes 95.4 205.3 

Germany teaches us a lesson. And as our population 
increases we shall be forced to do as Germany has done — 
learn the principles of intensive farming. And into this 
scheme the sugar beet is bound to play an important part, 
just as it has done in Germany. It is far better to sell 
sunshine and rain off the farm in the form of sugar than 

131 



nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. While a certain 
amount of the latter are needed in the form of grain 
crops to feed the people, the former will go far towards 
fitting the soil for the better production of the latter. 

These facts are being more appreciated as time goes 
on, and the sugar beet in consequence is receiving more 
of the attention to which it is rightly entitled. What the 
sugar beet has done for Germany it will do for us. This 
shows in the following table (inserted here again for the 
purpose of illustrating this point) : 

Average Crops Per Acre Showing Increase After Beets. 

In Pounds. In Per Cent. 

Wheat 444 24 

Rye 216 15 

Barley 422 25 

Oats 563 42 

Peas 849 86 

Potatoes 6,874 102 

This shows the increase in yield of staple crops after 
beets were introduced into the rotation over the yields on 
land not planted to beets. They indicate why Germany's 
agriculture is ahead of America's. 

Tariff. — And this brings us to the matter of a tariff to 
protect an industry which needs and deserves protection. 
The good to be gained from the culture of the sugar beet 
in connection with our general agriculture is a matter of 
nation-wide knowledge on the part of our keen witted, 
clear sighted, thinking men. 

The tariff is a business question pure and simple. And 
like all other business propositions the procedure will go 
forth which will result in the most good for the greatest 
number of people. The tariff is not a moral question any 
more than is any other business proposition. 

It is not the author's purpose to create a political dis- 
cussion, but simply to point out that the advancement of 
our beet sugar industries with their many attendant bene- 
ficial influences on the agriculture of the country must be 
protected. To know what a business needs requires a 
knowledge of that business. The beet sugar interests 
know they could not exist a day without protection. If 
put in competition with cheap tropical sugars they would 
go to the wall. Prosperity depends not on trade but on 
production. 

Tariff acts should be compromises of all the interests. 

132 



The national policy should be, and is, to stimulate produc- 
tion. When producers are prosperous every one is pros- 
perous, as there is money to pay for goods. 

It is a wise policy, therefore, which protects the sugar 
industries, or any other legitimate producing interest of 
the country, while at the same time measures are insti- 
tuted for protection against internal abuse of that pro- 
tective policy. 

Under "Statistics" the rapid rise of the beet sugar in- 
dustry is shown. The amount of money which an in- 
dustry of this scope brings in — $20,000,000 for beets 
alone — indicates the wisdom of protecting it. 



1.33 



CHAPTER V. 



Statistics. * 

Amount of Sugar Produced — Average in Long Tons for Five- 
Year Periods. 

Beet Sugar. Cane Sugar. 

1855-1859 136,939 

1860T864 116,931 

1865-1869 400 20,947 

1870-1874 480 60,979 

1875-1879 100 82,501 

1880-1884 647 114,816 

1885-1889 894 128,630 

1890-1894 8,597 203,821 

1894-1899 31,943 284,207 

1900-1904 144,892 266,835 

1905-1909 344,314 336,857 

1909-1910 (1 year) 457,562 335,000 

1910-1911 (1 year) 455,511 311,000 

(From U. S. Dept. of Agri. Yearbook.) 

The averages of the last ten years in beet sugar pro- 
duction are of interest as they show the rapid rise of 
the industry. 

Average Sugar 
Yield Manufac'd. 





No. Mills 


Beet Per Acre. Million 


Average 


Year. 


Running. 


Acreage. Tons. Pounds. 


Sugar. Purity. 


1901 .... 


.. 36 


175,000 9.6 369 


14.8* 82* 


1902 .... 


.. 41 


216,000 8.7 436 


14.6 83 


1903 .... 


.. 49 


242,500 8.5 481 


15.1 83 


1904 .... 


.. 48 


197,500 10.4 484 


15.3 83 


1905 .... 


.. 52 


307,000 8.6 625 


15.3 83 


1906 .... 


.. 63 


376,000 11.2 967 


14.9 82 


1907 .... 


.. 63 


370,500 10.1 927 


15.8 83 


1908 .... 


.. 62 


364,500 9.3 851 


15.7 83 


1909 .... 


.. 65 


420,000 9.7 1,024 


16.1 84 


1910-11. 


... 61 


398,029 10.7 1,020 


16.3 84 


( From 


the United States Dept. of Agriculture 


Yearbook.) 


*Means in beet. 










(The End.) 





134 



RiAY 26 1913 



